Cure
by upsidedownboat
Summary: Axel. Abandoned. An orphan. He’s injected with a mystery serum. Now, he has to cope with an abnormal ability, psychotic killers, and a desire for romance between him and another. Will he live long enough to find the only cure? AU
1. Only Child

_A/N: Well, this is my FIRST EVER KH fanfic. I am so excited! XD Anyway, please be nice! Thanks and I hope you have a good read. :D_

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH, do own the idea for this story, don't profit from this work of fanfiction.**

**Cure**

**Chapter 1**

The floorboards creaked at me as I trudged along the corridor, stepping on each one in turn. I couldn't care less. People gawked at me as I passed by their crowded rooms, and I looked up every once in a while, catching the eye of a couple of people who ducked nervously back into their rooms, not looking out at me again. I rolled my eyes. People could be so dramatic. I stared down at my piece of paper gloomily, noting the number printed on it, and proceeded to the door, labelled with that matching number.

When I opened it, I felt myself plummet to the ground, a heavy weight of someone on top of me. I didn't speak a word, and reflexively grabbed them and shoved them off me. All these years of being alone on the streets had boosted my defence skills. Funny about that…

"Hi, I'm your roommate, Demyx!" A cheerful voice chimed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at the person who'd tackled me, and sighed. This was one of those people that completely drove me mad. Blonde, blue eyed and constantly happy and hyper. I sighed, dropping my duffel bag to the floor.

"I assume you're Axel," A deeper voice asked from the corner. I almost jumped, only just realising his presence. A short, silver haired male walked slowly to the middle of the room, looking bored and holding a thick book. Great, another one of those people I couldn't stand. I grunted a response and turned to my small bed and duffel bag. I really wasn't in the mood for all this hubbub.

"That's my boyfriend, Zexion," I heard Demyx explain cheerfully from behind me. I could almost hear him smiling. How old was this kid anyway? He acted as if he was about five. It took me a minute to register that he'd said 'my boyfriend,' to which I shrugged. I couldn't care less. These were two less people who would look at me strangely for my personal preference. (A/N: In other words, Axel is gay too…)

"Dem, I think that the frosty gravity defying newbie isn't going to speak quite soon, so I'll see you later." I glanced over my shoulder to see Zexion squeeze Demyx's hand and move out the door, and I frowned. Was he making fun of my hair?

"So…" Demyx jumped onto his bed and splayed out across it, directing his gaze at me. "How'd you get that bruise on your face?" He asked, and I clenched my jaw. Great. He was a curious one.

"Don't worry about it," I muttered, collapsing into my own bed. It was late, I was tired, and I wasn't up for 20 questions right now. Demyx didn't seem to mind though. Claps for him… "Were you in a fight or something? You look pretty beat up." I sighed again, scratching my chin. What did he care if I had bruises everywhere? I'd been living in the streets for the majority of my life that I could remember, and now I was here at the orphanage, just like him.

"Leave me alone," I mumbled grumpily, rolling over and closing my eyes. I didn't care that the light was still on. I was tired, so I would sleep. Demyx continued to question me, even though it was obvious to him that I wasn't actually going to answer. I fidgeted slightly on the bed. Never again would I sleep in black, torn jeans, but when I decided I was as close to comfortable I could get, I drifted off into blackness.

* * *

"Get up Axel!" Demyx cheered, opening the curtains so I could receive a painful jet of sunshine straight in my eyes. Curse Demyx to hell. I rolled over, immersing myself in my bedclothes, and squeezed my eyes shut. My life was already crappy. Couldn't I just sleep and shut it out for a little longer?

"Wakey, wakey!" Demyx sang, and I almost screamed, shooting out of bed. Icy water made my fiery hair slump, and my face dripped, soaked with wet droplets. "Axel, come out of the bathroom. Breakfast is in half an hour." I had half a mind to kick the door down and throttle him, demanding to know why he didn't wake me up half an hour later, but I resisted. Although my temper was still there, "You bastard! I don't have any other clothes to wear!"

I threw open the bathroom door with a slam, and glared fiery daggers at Demyx. He flinched for a moment, when our bedroom door flung open. "Good morning Dem. What's wrong with slumpy hair?" I turned my glare on the silverette standing in the doorway, but he didn't even flinch. Curse him as well. I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring moodily at the couple who were in the room with me.

"Let's get down to breakfast!" Demyx decided for us, almost skipping to his boyfriend and subtly taking his hand. "I think you're forgetting, Demyx, that I have no other clothes to wear."

Demyx stared back at me, his big blue eyes widening and then a grin broke out across his face, "You can wear my stuff. It's over in that wardrobe." He pointed to something behind me, and there was indeed a wardrobe behind me when I turned around to examine the space, but when I glanced around the room again, both Demyx and Zexion were gone. I sighed heavily. This was going to be the beginning of a beautiful life, I thought sarcastically, pulling open the wardrobe.

I scowled at the contents. Most of the clothing was either blue or white. Hardly anything black. Such a shame… I rifled through Demyx's things, finding only one shirt that seemed to fit me. It was white. Yay… At least my jeans weren't _that _wet. Demyx had mostly got my torso when he'd splashed me with his drink bottle. After squeezing into the almost-too-tight shirt of Demyx's, I moved back over to my duffel bag, and unzipped it, half smiling as I caught the glimpse of a black jacket inside. I pulled it out gratefully and slipped it on.

My hair dried surprisingly fast, and was back to its usual fiery, red, gravity defying self, and then I remembered the bruises on my face and neck. So, I'd gotten into some fights on the street. It could've been worse. At least I'd known how to defend myself; I was a pretty good fighter. I shrugged, not really caring. I'd never had to cover myself up before. Why start now?

"There he is!" Demyx grinned, pointing to me as I entered the small hall where everyone was dining. The soft sounds of clanging cutlery and babble of voices died slightly as people looked over to where I'd entered the proximity. This was just great. Later on, I would happily throttle Demyx when no one was looking.

I grabbed a tray and slid it along the thin bench. All the food looked somewhat repulsive, and I wrinkled my nose, finally settling for an apple and something that represented soup. When I looked up to locate a seat, my eyes came to rest on Demyx and Zexion, and both of them were looking over at me. I sighed, moving over to their small table, and planting myself down in an uncomfortable looking seat.

"Morning Axel," Demyx smiled. I grunted, eyeing my soup.

"That'll probably kill you," Zexion said matter-o-factly. I looked up and him, and he shrugged, returning to his book. I wondered how Demyx could constantly hang around this guy. Maybe he made up for the lack of enthusiasm Zexion had…

I decided to pick the safer route, and took a bite of my apple, sinking my teeth into the juicy green fruit.

"So, when did you get here?" Demyx asked conversationally. I shrugged in response. "Last night. Just before you saw me."

I glanced up and caught Zexion looking at me. "So, beanstalk can talk." I glared at him, taking another bite of apple. Demyx continued speaking, ignoring my irritation.

"Will you answer my question about your bruises from last night?" Demyx asked curiously, his eyes skimming over my neck and cheek. I fidgeted, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Street gang," was my short answer, and I heard Demyx sigh. "Ah." And that marked the end of the awkward conversation. When I decided that my apple had no significantly tasty part to it anymore, I discarded it, standing and then exiting the hall.

I was surprised that Demyx didn't call out for me to stay, but his silence was understandable. I was new, strange and bruised. Why would someone want to willingly exist in my presence?Besides, he probably didn't want to be alone with me, considering he splashed me with water to wake me up. I hated water. Actually, I hated the cold more. And, he'd mixed cold, water and me, together, which resulted in a very ticked off Axel.

I pushed open the thin wooden door to the room I was sharing with Demyx, and sighed. My black shirt lay, wet, on the end of my bed, just as I'd left it. When I picked it up, I glowered. It wasn't any drier than it had been before breakfast. I tucked the wet glob of blackness under my arm and marched back out the door again.

Outside, the sun was bright, and when I exited the dank building, I exhaled, relaxing already. Beams of light tickled my skin, and warmth etched its way back into my body. The wet patch that was forming from my sopping shirt was what distracted me, and I exhaled in frustration, looking around the orphanage's garden to see if there was a washing line handy.

Sure enough, standing innocently several metres away, was an old hills hoist set in the grassy garden. It looked oddly out of place. I shrugged, slinging my black shirt over one of the lines, and collapsing in the grass. The sun caressed my face and I sighed, lying back and putting my arms comfortably behind my head.

* * *

"Axel." I jumped and opened my eyes slowly, staring up at the figure that hovered over me. It was Zexion.

"What," I grumbled, closing my eyes again. I failed to notice the obvious. "It's dark you moron. Get back inside. Demyx is worried sick about you." My stomach turned over and the feeling made me tighten my jaw. Demyx was like my brother, Reno. Always worried about me. That's what had gotten him killed.

"I'll be up in a minute…" I muttered, but he heard me, and turned to leave. "Hurry up. We've got injections tomorrow."

"Huh?" I looked up, but Zexion was already gone. Creepy. I scratched my head and wriggled uncomfortably in Demyx's white shirt. It was too tight. I sighed, grabbing my own shirt off the line near me. It was cool, but not wet anymore.

I tucked it under my arm again and proceeded back inside. Not only was I a strange, bruised outsider to this place, I was a strange, bruised outsider who hated needles. Great. I looked forward to tomorrow…

_A/N: Thankyou for reading. Please, before you click on something else which takes you away from this page, could you review? Please? All you have to do is click the green button below! Thanks! :D_

_Expect slow updates… I'm sick, and my holidays are ending… such a tragedy…_


	2. Needles

_A/N: Yes, the first chapter went a tad quickly… sigh. Oh well… Hopefully, this one was a bit better. :D Please review! xx_

_And thankyou to the people who HAVE reviewed! You mean the world to me. :P xx_

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH, do own the idea for this story, don't profit from this work of fanfiction.**

**Chapter 2**

"Axel, where the hell have you been!?" Demyx stared frustratedly at me, and I shrugged, collapsing onto my bed even though I wasn't really that tired. I'd just slept for the majority of the day…

"…xel! Are you listening?" Demyx's voice sounded tired and partially hoarse, as if he'd been talking non-stop for hours. Which, considering it was Demyx, was probably true…

"I'm listening," I sighed, tempted to tune out again. As touching as it was to hear Demyx complaining about my absence, it was also painful. My older brother Reno had done exactly the same thing. I clutched absentmindedly at the silver ring, hanging on a chain around my neck.

"What's that?" Demyx asked curiously, pointing at the ring in my fingers. I twisted so that I was facing him, "My brother gave it to me," I said, instantly regretting the sudden conversation I'd just sparked. I could see the questions in Demyx's eyes, brimming over the edges, waiting to be asked.

I answered for him instead. "My brother's name was Reno. He was living on the streets with me. My parents discarded us when we were young," I paused, a bitter taste in my mouth. It always appeared whenever I thought of my parents… "Uh, he protected me," I continued, wondering and hoping that Demyx had no questioned after I'd finished. I scratched my neck, dropping the ring so it hung loosely around my neck; just like it always did.

"He gave it to me on my tenth birthday. Not many years after that, he was killed." My throat tightened, and I rolled over, facing away from my hyperactive roommate. I was eighteen now. It had been years since Reno had died, why couldn't I talk about him?

"Huh?" I flashed a glance back over my shoulder, and saw Demyx lying on his bed, staring blankly at the plain white ceiling. He sniffed, rubbing his eye. I watched him in shock, and a tear ran down his cheek, falling onto the covers by his head.

"Demyx?" I asked, feeling suddenly strangely worried for the guy. He looked at me, smiling weakly and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine…" Then after wiping another tear from his face, he rolled over and didn't say another word. I frowned, then mentally kicked myself, biting down on my lip.

I was an orphan. I was here in this orphanage, with the other twenty or so people who occupied it. One of which, was Demyx. I'd been so caught up in memories of Reno that I'd just talked, spoken of my losses as if Demyx didn't have another care in the world. I was an idiot. He had no parents, no family either. He was in a similar situation to me. Hell, maybe in the same situation as I was! This was what happened when I opened up to people. They were hurt.

I clenched my fists as I lay on my back in my bed, licking my dry lips. If Demyx asked again, I wouldn't say anything about my past. It seemed to dredge up things he didn't want to remember, so I would refrain from mentioning this again.

It was on that uncomfortable note that I chose to fall asleep.

-

"Whoa, it's smaller here than I expected," I muttered, rubbing my left eye out of sleepiness. It was morning, I was wearing my torn black jeans and no shirt, and I was in a tiny line of people waiting for my injection. Demyx was behind me, and Zexion behind him.

"I hate needles," Demyx whimpered behind me, and I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I knew how the guy felt, I loathed needles, but he didn't have to _whimper_ about it… "It'll be okay Dem," I heard Zexion whisper, and I repressed a sigh. Being the third wheel was awfully annoying. Listening to those two behind me talking softly to each other made my body jolt from loneliness. I sighed.

"Next," a man wearing a white coat and black pants said. I scowled as I made my slow walk passed him. The white coat was awfully ironic…

"Now son," Another man said, brandishing an ugly looking needle. "Sit down and relax, this won't hurt a bit." I bit my tongue. Hurt my ass. I almost cried out from the sting as the needle pierced my flesh. The after-feeling was worse though. When I stood and vacated the allocated space that was being used for the injections, my arm became rather warm. I ignored it at first, thinking that it would pass quickly, but the feeling became more pronounced.

"Axel, are you okay?" Demyx asked me through clenched teeth. I shook my head, clasping my arm. "What the hell is going on?" I bit out, the fiery feeling burning through my chest now. Demyx was shaking next to me, his teeth chattering violently.

"What's the matter with you two?" Zexion asked a couple of minutes later. I couldn't answer verbally, so I settled for the shaking of my head. The burning sensation hadn't died away yet, and now it felt like my whole body was on fire.

"I think you have side effects," Zexion said matter-o-factly. I shot a nasty glare at him, but he just stood in his place, continuing to stare at us. Suddenly, he shook his head. "Come on Dem, let's get you back to your room."

Zexion put a comforting arm around Demyx's middle, in order to help his pained boyfriend back to his room, but he pulled his arm back to his side, caressing it before it had even properly touched Demyx.

"Do you know what those needles are even for?" I snarled through clenched teeth. I was still burning, I was in agony. Yet, nobody seemed to notice except Zexion or Demyx. Demyx looked almost as bad as me, except instead of twitching and occasional writhing, he was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

Zexion watched me with his dark eyes, "They were experimental needles. The government wanted to prevent teenagers from sexual diseases." I glared up at him. Judging by the tone of his voice, there was more. I was right.

"The serum in the needles is not of normality. I don't know much about it, but they definitely respond to electrical signals transmitted by a machine centred in the middle of the town, about an hour away from here."

Delightful. This was just beyond great. I'd been used as a guinea pig in an experiment controlled by the government. "Let's get… back to the… room," Demyx chattered to us. Zexion sighed, and without touching him this time, proceeded out the door and joined us as we entered our room. As soon as we entered the small, messy place, I let out a moan of pain, and collapsed onto my bed.

"Axel!" Demyx managed to yelp. When I looked up, I couldn't see my roommate clearly. There was a thick steam preventing me from seeing his face. "Argh!" I writhed and twisted as excruciating pain tore through my body, reaching every vein, every muscle. At that precise moment, I wished to die. Dying would be heaven compared to this pain.

"Is he alive?" Demyx's shaky voice whispered and he poked Zexion, who momentarily froze on the spot. Literally. At Demyx's touch, a jet of ice protruded from Demyx's outstretched finger, creating a line of ice from Zexion's hip, all the way down to his feet. Ice caked around his shoes, freezing him to the floor.

"What the hell's going on?" I mumbled, receiving a slight head rush as I sat upright. The pain had passed, and now my whole body felt completely numb. My mouth hung open as I stared at Demyx's horrified expression. Zexion was just as shocked as I was, and he was staring down at his ice-covered feet.

"I think you both have side effects from the injections," he finally managed to choke out.

"Do you even know how those needles work!?" I almost yelled. Hell, they'd better be flawless, because if they weren't, I'd track down the person who was responsible for this idea, and show them all the pain that I had just felt.

"Not entirely," Zexion mumbled, wriggling as he attempted to free himself from the ice, "But I do know that every teenager in this town received the injection. Most people knew it was experimental, this being the first time it'd been used on humans, and they'd known there would definitely be side effects, but nothing as bad as death."

I gaped at him. Nothing as bad as death? I think I'd just experienced something worse than death. I slammed my fist down onto my leg out of frustration, not caring if I bruised myself.

"Axel?" Demyx said fearfully, pointing at my hand. I stared cluelessly at him for a moment, before looking down at my palm. I almost passed out from utter shock. Bright flames were tickling my palm, dancing and shining. My palm felt several degrees warmer than the rest of my body, and I just stared at it in awe.

"Maybe you could free me?" Zexion asked hesitantly. I moved my gaze from my palm and to his eyes. He looked hopeful, but I felt doubtful. If this was a side effect, wasn't it supposed to be bad? Surely, nothing good could come of me being able to control fire…

"Please?" Demyx virtually whispered. I glanced at his crystal blue eyes, and sighed.

"Fine." I wasn't guaranteeing anything though… This was fire. Nobody could predict what the flames would do…

I held my open palm to the ice encasing Zexion's feet, and watched in amazement as it melted. I managed to keep the flame small, but still flickering, and once I accidentally made contact with the wet surface of the melting ice. The flame didn't even sputter.

"Thanks Axel," Zexion mumbled when I'd done, and I stood to face him, virtually towering over the short silverette. He sighed. "I think, that I need to go and read my book." My green eyes stared after him as he exited the room, and I heard Demyx sigh.

"He's scared, I think…" He muttered, collapsing onto his own bed. Unlike me, he didn't writhe and curl into a ball of pain; he just lay there, staring up at the white ceiling. I pointed over my shoulder with my flame-free hand.

"Shouldn't you be going after him?" I asked. Demyx nodded, "Probably, yeah." I watched him as he stood and left the room, wondering how he could calmly tolerate all of this weirdness. I shrugged to myself, staring down at the flames which still occupied my palm. What if they never went out?

I bit my lip and willed the flames to disappear. I didn't know why I did it, but I tried, and to my amazement, they shrunk and eventually snuffed themselves out. Strange. I clenched my hand into a fist, and then unclenched it, flexing my fingers. I was a pyro who was now pyrokinetic. Cool.

"Axel!" I heard Demyx shout. His voice was drenched with panic, and even though I didn't really see him as a friend, or anyone special really, I dashed out of the room. "What the hell?" I exclaimed, running a nervous hand through my hair.

Demyx was on his knees, Zexion's head in his lap, and he was sobbing. Zexion was unconscious, but still breathing, and Demyx was trying not to touch Zexion's skin. I couldn't see any ice, so this wasn't caused by Demyx.

I opened my mouth to ask Demyx what had happened, but before I could get any words out, Demyx choked, "He just collapsed."

I stared in horror. Zexion had said there was a guarantee of no deaths. He was still breathing, but would he be okay? Would he die? I chewed my lip, turning away from Demyx. My poker face was breaking. Demyx would be able to see me shattering. The flood of memories that I'd so carefully held back came rushing into my head, and I glanced at the almost lifeless body of Zexion lying on the floor, a single tear rolling down my cheek.

_A/N: So this may be a bit OOC, but oh well. I have a question for you guys… should I make Zexion die? Or should I give him a power or side effect or something? I don't actually know in depth what his ability in KH actually is, so I think I'll give him something to do with the mind… unless he dies, then I won't have to worry. Lol :P_

_Review please!! ^.^ Thankyou!_


	3. A New Family

_A/N:Oh, if you see any i's that are capital when they're not supposed to be, then I am sincerely sorry. I recently got a laptop, and I haven't got word on it yet, so I couldn't find all the errors. Heh, sorry if there's any spelling mistakes as well... etcetera. :)_

_Please review! This took me forever to type, and now my wrist is sore... owie._

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts, do own the idea for this story, don't own any of the characters or anything, and I especially don't make a profit from this fanfiction. However, I hope to make a lot of reviews. ^^ lol**

((Zexion POV))

Blackness. Pain. Burning. Sensations hit me one after another. I didn't know how long I had been out for, all I knew was that I wanted it to end. So desperately. I struggled with the blackness in my head, wanting to be free. I couldn't move. I couldn't even open my eyes. All I was aware of was that I was still, lying on the floor most likely. Had Demyx moved me? What had Axel said, or done? It was clear that he didn't see either myself or Demyx as friends. His eyes showed his emotions. To me they didn't give me the luxury of emotions. Demyx, maybe. He'd always managed to bring out feelings in people. How? I dont know. But he could.

Blackness settled comfortably in my head, and I continued to struggle against it. I clenched my jaw in pain as a ripping sensation tore through my head. What the hell was happening!? At that moment, I wanted to die. I wanted everythIng to go numb. I wanted an out. But, I couldn't move. How could one help themselves if one cannot move?

'Demyx!' I trIed to yell out. I wanted him to know I was still here, fighting, but I couldn't hear. I couldn't see or feel either. My voice had completely gone. Even if it was here, I wouldn't be able to use it anyway. I was unable to move my mouth.

((Axel POV))

Poor guy, I thought. He'd been sitting there for hours, next to his boyfriend's body. Zexion was still breathing, but his outcome didn't look good. Every now and then, he would twitch, looking like he was in complete agony. If It was anything like I'd felt after I'd had that injection, then I could swear it would be nothing happy he was experiencing.

How could I tell Demyx this though? The guy had cried himself dry, and then some. I looked over at his tear-sodden face and sighed, rubbing my own eyes. We'd been here for hours now. I rose from my seat on Zexion's bed and stretched, a remarkably uncomfortable sensation hitting me. My leg was numb. I almost went crashIng down onto Zexion.

"Axel?" Demyx's voice was a barely audible croak. I whipped my head over to look at him, trying to balance on my single functional leg. "Huh?" My intelligent response didn't twig any expression in his eyes; they were usually so full of life. Right now, he looked dead. How am I even noticing this? Demyx and I aren't even friends. Just roommates. He is nothing to me, and he would remain nothing. Bonds just held you back; I didn't need any, anyway. I was ditching this orphanage tonight, before I actually started to care about these people. And, I was going to track down that sonofabitch who invented the crap in the needle. Which was so conveniently stabbed into my arm.

"Can you get me some water?" Demyx croaked at me. I was about to tell him to make his own, but the look he gave me told me he couldn't do it. Looked like he'd cried himself dry. "Whatever," I answered, moving to the door. My leg wasnt numb anymore.

I'd reached the lunchroom when I realised I didn't know where I was going. I looked around helplessly, deciding to find a glass instead. I could get the water from the bathroom in my temporary bedroom. I exited the door to the lunchroom, and almost jumped out of my skin.

"Who are you...?" The girl asked in a dreary voice. I examined the girl. Brunette, dark eyes and a head shorter than me; I looked more closely and discovered bags under her eyes. She looked so tired. Her hand waved in front of my face, and I noticed she had blood on her hand. Maybe she was wounded? I shrugged. She looked like she could take care of herself.

"I said, who are you!?" I started as the girl screeched at me. Seriously, what the hell was her problem? "Axel," I replied shortly, glancing at her again. She wore a short-sleeved blouse, and I could see the spot on her upper arm where she'd been injected; it was swollen and looked alarmingly unhealthy. This couldn't be good...

"Uh, I need to get something for my roommate. So, later." I went to move passed her and I accidentally knocked her shoulder. She let out an angry hiss, and I stole a quick glance over my shoulder at her. Something about the way she was standing, looked almost animalistic. I shuddered and walked faster, eager to get out of her field of vision.

"Ah!" I'd finally managed to locate a glass. Okay, glass would be lying. Plastic cup. But hey, it was somethIng. When I entered Zexion's room, I found Demyx on the floor, squeezing his boyfriend's hand. "Zexy! I know you're still there! You called my name, you're still alive! Come on!" Demyx was beyond desperate. His eyes were filled with tears again. No wonder he was thirsty. He had been crying so much. He'd lost so much water.

"Here," I said quietly, passIng him the drink of cool water. He didn't even thank me. Well, not verbally. He nodded once. I shrugged and went back to my seat on the bed. I would've left, but it wasn't like I had anything else to do. No, I didn't really care about Zexion, or Demyx, okay? I just didn't have anything else to really do. I mean, yeah, I was planning on running away later tonight, but it wasn't like I had a million belongings to take with me. The most important thing I owned was always safely hanging around my neck.

"Demyx, what're you doing!?" I cried in shock. I was too late to grab his arm, and he splashed the whole cup of water into Zexion's face. Nothing happened, except I was hit with deja vu... Demyx placed the cup down on the floor next to himself, and sobbed some more. What was he expecting? Demyx had been blubbering and all his tears had fallen onto Zexion's face. Surely he would've woken up by now if he could feel that wetness.

"Dem..."

Demyx almost jumped a foot in the air, and my heart froze in shock. "Zexy!" Demyx virtually squealed, launching himself at Zexion and almost squeezIng him to death. I struggled to pull him free, and when I did, Zexion was gaspIng for breath. "You almost rekilled him," I mumbled sarcastically. Zexion shot me an icy glare, and I shrugged. Demyx acted as if I wasn't there.

"What happened? We thought you were dead!" Demyx helped prop Zexion up against a wall, and he clasped his head, letting out a breath through his teeth. "Side effects..." He hissed painfully passed his teeth. I got up to leave the room, and the pair looked up at me. I shrugged, "What? He's alive. I'm leaving." Neither of the males in the room exchanged a word with me as I departed the scene. I had collected my duffel bag and was making my way away from the back door of the orphanage when someone grabbed my shoulder.

Instinctively, I snatched their arm and swung them around, holding them in a firm lock. I didn't know why I did it, but maybe it was because I'd grown cautious of when people snuck up behind me. Living on the streets for the majority of my life, and hey, something had rubbed off on me.

"Let me go!" It was the girl from before. Great. I slowly let her go, and she whipped around and kicked me as soon as my grip loostened.

I dropped to my knees. Damn girls. Always being able to hit guys in their weakest places. I groaned in pain; at least it wasn't that hard though... "That was for grabbing me," she snarled. Again, with the animalistic mannerizims. She spoke to me again, but I wasn't really concentrating. I was thinking of the pain that was throbbing away. Man it hurt! I couldn't even stand up. I was bound to the ground.

"And this, is for knocking me accidentally before."

What? Why would she get back at me from an accident? I looked up in time to see her swinging her leg out again, and this time I rolled out of the way in time. Her foot collided with the ground, exactly where my head had been a couple of seconds ago. What the hell was wrong with this girl? Was she having side effects like Zexion? "What the hell are you doing!?" I yelled from the ground. The scene around us was darkening as it was slowly becoming night time. I rolled again in the grass, avoiding her kick. Again, it was aimed at my head.

"What do you think?" She replied sarcastically. I shot her an evil look, and she gasped mockingly. I was hating her more by the second. She grabbed my hair and dragged me into a standIng position with it. She lifted me surprisingly easily, considering she looked younger and was also smaller than me. Maybe around fifteen...

"Axel, I'm going to kill you." Okay, I was locked in a battle with a psychotic girl. Who seemed to possess some sort of super strength. The odds weren't looking good in my favour.

"I've done nothing to you," I spat bravely, considering I was about to die. She licked her lips in anticipation, maintaining her painful hold on my hair. I let out a gasp of pain, and I squeezed my eyes shut as she punched me; right in my left shoulder. For a moment it felt lIke I had no left arm, but the shooting pain told me it was still attached. I let out another gasp, and I felt a strange sensation flow through me; warm, comfortable, familiar. I snapped my eyes open, and the girl holdIng my hair let me go wIth a shriek, examining her hand.

"Looks like I'm not the only special one," she whispered, grinning. I didn't know what it was with this girl, but she had suddenly turned crazy. I saw her once in the lunchroom, sitting with a couple of her friends. Their faces escaped me, but I remembered that she'd looked happy. So, what was her problem now? Maybe the needles? A side effect? I'd never heard of a side effect that could turn an innocent girl into a killer. But, I countered, I hadn't ever heard of anything that could give a person an affinity to fire, either.

"Whoa," I muttered to myself, ducking as she kicked out at me agaIn. She was surprisingly accurate. "Axel," she taunted, "come on and hit me back. You've been the best competition I've had so far." Had so far? I ducked again, backing away from her. What did she mean? Competition. Her friends, the blood on her hand in the hall... it all clIcked. In all my years I'd spent on the streets, I'd never met anyone as deranged as her. She was a killer. She did it for fun. But... how was I to beat her? I was not a killer. Could I do it? More importantly, could I live with it?

She kicked out at me again, but this time I didn't have the chance to duck out of the way. I blocked my face with my forearms, makIng a cross. To my surprise, energy flooded into my arms and hands from her collision, and she cried out in pain. Before she could strike out at my face again, I leapt forward, shoving her backwards. I hated hurting females, but the girl was tryIng to kill me!

The smell of burning hit my nose, and the brunette in front of me clasped at her singed blouse. She looked up at me again, fire burning in her dark eyes. Crazy. This was absolutely insane. She lunged at me again, and swung at my face, with her fist this time. I was lucky I had fast reflexes. I caught her hand just inches away from my nose, and she let out a scream of pain. I shoved her backwards again, and she landed hard on the grassy ground; her hand now burnt.

There was somethIng I didn't understand. Why was she psychotic, and I was not? We'd both had the same injection. We'd both had side effects. Was it our genders? Our DNA? I had no clue whatsoever. The most important situation at hand was my life, and if I let this girl follow me, then it would surely end. I was lucky to even be alive now. If one of those kicks had even touched my head...

"What's your name?" I spat. She was still on the ground, and she stared up at me. I couldn't place her expressIon. Neither did I want to. "Brianna," she huffed, attempting to climb back onto her feet again. I wouldn't let her; I pushed her back onto the ground. She let out a small moan, and for a split second I felt sorry for her. Only a split second. Any longer and she could've torn my head off. I was faster than her though, and I hit her over the head, knocking her unconscious. No matter what the situation, I could never kill somebody. That was a fate that could never be decided by a single person alone.

I clutched at my left shoulder where she had struck me, and groaned. It hurt so much. Adrenaline had been protecting me so far, but now the fight was over, my wound was making itself known. No matter how badly I wanted it to stay hidden... I winced as I bent over to pick up my duffel bag.

"What the hell's going on!?" I almost face planted at the sheer shock of hearing Demyx's voice. I had planned not to ever see him again; I had been plannIng to run away after all...

"Uh..." My vocabulary was at a loss. I glanced at Demyx, who eyed my bag suspiciously. "You were leaving weren't you?" He didn't sound accusing. Just hurt. I admit, it made me feel a little guilty... That was when he saw the girl; Brianna. By now it was almost pitch black, and the only light was coming from the door behind Demyx. I couldn't properly see his expression, but I knew enough to guess that he was staring at her with incredulty. I took a step towards the door, and when he took in my appearance, he grimaced and took a careful step backwards.

"I... she almost killed me," I mumbled, wincing again as a pang went through my left shoulder. Demyx looked me up and down as I walked closer to the door, and his eyes widened. "Your arm...! It's covered in blood!" I glared at him. Like I hadn't noticed that tiny detail already?

"Ugh," I moaned, clutching the doorframe. I felt sick. "I need to get to the room..." I muttered, and after a pause, Demyx decided to help me. We managed to reach our room, and when he shoved the door forcefully open with his foot, I spotted Zexion lying on Demyx's bed.

"Axel..." Zexion mumbled to me as I lay on my bed. I nodded a hello. "Axel was going to run away," Demyx said out of the blue. I didn't even bother glaring at him. It was too much effort. Instead, I closed my eyes and settled for a frustrated huff. Zexion spoke from the bed beside me. He sounded fatigued. His body was still trying to repair itself, no doubt.

"Don't worry Dem. By the sound of his frustration, I'd say he didn't want us to know. I think he kept it a secret because he didn't want to hurt us. It shows he cares."

"You couldn't be more wrong," I mumbled moodily, angry that I'd been caught. But the truth was, he couldn't have been more right.

"We're your family now, Axel," Demyx said, seemingly to no one. I sighed, rolling painfully over to face him. I didn't answer, I didn't even say anything. I just looked at Demyx. He was smug. He knew he was right. Deep down I hated him for it. I knew I was going to stay. Me, who had always been on the move. The type never to settle anywhere and the one person who had never had a proper home. Well, it seemed like I had found one.

_**Somewhere unknown~**_

"Riku, come back!" The boy yelled, stretching a helpless hand out to his best friend. The male known as Riku turned to stare at him, and for a moment, the boy thought he would go back on what he'd said earlier. He was wrong. "Goodbye Sora," Riku stated, turning his back on Sora again. Sora did not know this, but it was harder for Riku to leave him, than it was for him to see Riku go. Riku loved Sora, and had decided to act. These inferior people had given them both an injection, along with Roxas, Sora's twin. He was going to find the cure. The single cure.

Supposedly, there was a central tower, located in the middle of their town. The nanotechnology that had been injected into his bloodstream made him feel sick every time he touched Sora. He hated it. He wanted to be with Sora, be in his prescence, without feeling this gutwrenching nausea. He hadn't felt like sick this way until he'd had that injection. But, he had an advantage that Sora didn't have. He knew about the people who'd wanted this needle's serum distributed, and he knew how to stop these sick feelings. The tower in the centre. It seemed ironoic, but at the top of that tower there was a beacon that sent out a singnal which triggered the nanotechnology in each person's body. This signal prevented sexual urges. He despised it.

"Riku..." Sora sobbed, clenching his hand into a fist and letting it drop down by his side. Someone approached him from behind, and he knew immediately who it was before he spoke. "Sora, you know it's not safe out here. Come back inside," Roxas murmured, tugging his twin back into the house by the arm. Sora allowed himself to be pulled along, all the while thinking of Riku. It was getting more dangerous for people as time proceeded, and the longer Riku was out there, the more he was going to be at risk.

_A/N: Well well well. That was an interesting chapter, was it not? I really hoped you all liked it, and can you please review? Excellent._

_xo Boat ox_

**PS: And if you guys want to be one of the teenagers that gets loose and ends up going kinda loopy like Brianna, please let me know in a review, and I will do my best to add you in. I can't promise anything yet, because I have no idea what the next chapter will involve, but I will try. Please tell me your name, age (or i can make one up. I don't mind), appearance, gender and ability. XD Awesome. Thanks!!**


	4. Pain, Comrades and Abilities

_A/N: Hope is a character that I was inspired to create. Thanks to one of my awesome reviewers, who gave me all the details about her... that person inspired me. I have ideas behind her, so I hope you read and enjoy this chapter. ^^ Review please!_

_This is my longest chapter so far. Woot! ^^_

_Oh, and any errors, I am sorry about. I'm typing in Wordpad and there's no spell check or anything... heh. :P_

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH, don't own any of the characters, and I don't own Axel's spikey red hair... sigh. Also, I don't profit from this fanfic. So... yah! Go and read, my faithful readers! lol ^^**

((Axel POV))

My hand covered my sore shoulder automatically, and I winced. It wasn't better yet. The two males in front of me looked over with concern in their eyes, and I raised my eyebrows; to which, both looked away, returning to their huffy moods.

"Come on!" I said impatiently. I'd been over this with them what felt like a hundred times. It was so frustrating. They wouldn't listen. No, they would listen, but they wouldn't comply. THAT was the annoying part. And, they knew I was right. I felt like punching them both, but since I had a very prominent weak spot, I had decided against it.

"No Axel," Zexion said, staring peircingly at me. He'd done it so many times now that I didn't flinch anymore. Demyx... I didn't really know what his opinion was. But, it was clear he didn't trust me very much, after that incident a day ago with that girl, Brianna. Besides, he was being logical, I guess. I mean, I would definitely trust my boyfriend over some guy who I'd found next to a girl's unconscious body, covered in blood.

"You know we have to leave. Why don't you believe me?" I hissed at the pair. There were several other people close to our table, and I didn't really trust any of them. Considering I was almost killed a night ago... "We do believe you Axel," Demyx said, sounding hesitant, "but, this is our home." He crossed his arms and stared at me with his bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, and your home happens to be overrun by crazy, superpowered killers, and you're just going to sit there and let them get to you?" I crossed my own arms, grimacing at the twang of pain from my bandaged shoulder, and then looking away from my table. Brianna was sitting over the other side of the room, nursing a few injuries of her own. I had to admit, I did feel a bit guilty about hurting her... the image of her trying to bash my head in made me clench my jaw; I take all the previous sentence back.

"Fine. If you two aren't going to speak," I said, standing up, "then I'm leaving on my own. Goodbye."

Just like last time I had decided to leave, neither of them said a word to me. And this time, I didn't feel slightly strange about leaving. I was angry. For all I cared, Brianna could kick them both someplace REALLY hard. "Ugh," I mumbled when I reached my door. It was locked. Damn it! I didn't want to go back to Demyx and ask for the key. I scanned the hall, and deciding that the coast was clear, and I let a small flame tickle my fingertips.

I wrinkled my nose as the burning smell hit my nostrils, but I did my best to ignore it. "Finally..." I muttered to myself, as the metal around the lock melted away. I twisted the doorknob and the door swung open. I was a genius.

My duffel bag lay at the end of my unmade bed, just where I'd left it. I grabbed it and swung it over my healthy shoulder, and turned to leave, clicking the door shut behind me as I went.

"Argh!" I cried out, sinking to my knees as someone squeezed my painful shoulder. "Brianna..." I huffed angrily. What was it with this girl and me? Ugh. Actually, I don't even want to know what was going through her mind.

"Axel," Brianna smiled, her lips pulling up into a menacing grin. Her dark eyes sparkled as she stared into my green eyes. I hated her so much. "Axel?" Uh oh. Demyx stood just behind Brianna, and he was staring at her in shock, unsure what to do. Zexion was standing by his side, looking equally as shocked, but he hid it better than Demyx.

"Hey!" Brianna squeaked, sounding for a moment, like the girl she was supposed to be, and not the killer she was. I successfully thrust her backwards and she collided with the wall. If I had strength like she did, that wall would be supporting a very large hole. "Get your crap!" I yelled at Zexion and Demyx, who were still staring at the scene playing out before them. Zexion opened his mouth to reply, but Brianna knocked me onto my stomach. Whatever he'd said, I'd missed.

"Go!" I yelled, "We're getting out of here now!" Demyx was still staring at me, horror-struck, and if this was a normal situation, I would have sighed and hit him over the head. Instead, I did nothing to him, and got back onto my feet, turning to face Brianna, who was rubbing at her arm where I'd hit her.

"I swear I'll kill you this time," she snarled, turning all animalistic again. I really didn't understand why people had to swear to something, or make a promise before they tried to kill somebody. It was beyond me. I didn't say anything, and faced off with a very angry, very strong, Brianna. I had to buy time for Demyx and Zexion to get their stuff, and get out. Then I'd follow. Right after I'd stopped Brianna.

Determination flared in my eyes as Brianna kicked out at me again, and a sense of deja vu hit me. This time, I caught her foot with both hands, and let the hottest fire I could muster flow through my fingers. Brianna screamed at the top of her lungs, and I grinned, satisfied that I could hurt her the same way she'd injured me.

"Axel!" It was Demyx. I made the mistake of turning to glance at him, that was when I went flying into a wall. My shoulder screamed in agony. "Leave him alone!" Demyx yelled, just as Zexion came out of his room. They were both carrying duffle bags, similar to mine. Brianna let out a scream, and she froze on the spot.

"What have you done to me?" She hissed, glaring hatred and venom at me. I stared at her dumbly. What had I done? That was when I noticed her feet. They were frozen to the floor, engulfed in ice. Demyx, that was a smart move.

"Come on, she can't follow us now," I said, wincing as I turned to Zexion and Demyx. They looked at me for a moment, then nodded. I collected my bag, which was lying abandoned on the floor, and we all dashed outside; to freedom.

_**Somewhere unknown~**_

"Huh?" Riku swung around to examine the hall he'd just walked through. He was in an abandoned school. Looks like the situation at hand had become worse already. This had to stop. "Who's there?" He called out to no one. A typical cliche. He sighed, ploughing on.

Why was he even in this school anyway? For protection. It would get dark soon, and the people who'd received the injections, which were all children aged fourteen to nineteen, might be outside, looking for trouble. Or, just people weaker than them to dominate. He'd heard that some people received special abilities after they'd had the injecton. He wasn't sure if he had an ability. If he had, he was yet to discover it.

"Hello there." Riku froze. A girl's voice. She sounded younger than him. "Where are you?" He called bravely, jumping as the girl appeared in front of him. The first thing he noticed about her, was her eyes. Were they blue, or green? He couldn't place them.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself or not?" The girl asked, crossing her arms. Although she was shorter than Riku, there was something about her that made you want to stay on her good side. He decided to follow his instincts. "I'm Riku," he sighed, scratching his neck uncomfortably.

"I'm Hope!" She grinned, her demeanor changing immediately. She tucked some midnight hair behind her ear, and Riku put his hands in his pockets uncomfortably. How was he to figure out if she was one of these crazy people who'd been injected with the serum?

"I bet you're here looking for somewhere to stay, right? I'll show you a good spot." Before Riku could protest, Hope had grabbed his hand with her pale one, and was pulling him along behind her. She didn't seem crazy... he thought. If she was, she would've attacked him by now, right?

"How old are you?" Riku asked randomly. He wanted to find out more about her, at least. It would be a start. "Fourteen," Hope answered, turning back to look at him. "Why? Do you want to know all about me so you can decide whether I'm a crazy one or not?" She laughed then, and Riku sighed. Maybe he'd been wrong about her... but it was still best to keep his guard up.

Hope sighed, letting his hand go. "I used to live with my dad," she said. Riku walked behind her, listening. "I had a sibling, he was a few years older than me. Both of us had the injection. He went mad. He..." Hope trailed off, and glanced at Riku, pain in her eyes. "He killed my dad, and then tried to kill me, but I managed to run away. I figured he'd never think to look in a school." She scoffed, coming to a halt.

Riku was silent, taking in her story. Could she be lying? He doubted it. The pain she'd shown looked real. He sighed. "Where was this place you were taking me?" He asked, looking up and down the hall they'd walked through.

"Right in front of us you dork," she said, pushing open a door. Inside it was a gym. "You have to be mad. It's so open!" Riku looked in disbelievingly, and Hope shook her head. "It's perfect," she countered, pointing to the stack of gym mats in the corner. "We can sleep on those, and if anyone finds us, we're able to make an escape. There're three doors in here, and it's an open space, so we could run anywhere." Hope crossed her arms triumphantly, and Riku sighed, knowing she was right.

"Okay, fine."

Both teens made their way over to the mats, and they pulled two down onto the floor, parallel to each other. Riku dumped his bag on the ground and groaned, "I wish I brought some food," he mumbled miserably. Hope shrugged. She hadn't anything either. Only the black dress she was wearing. She didn't even have shoes.

"Well, I guess we can count out eating tonight," Riku muttered, lying down on the mat. He had to admit, it was fairly comfortable. He only wished he hadn't had that stupid injection. Then he'd be at home, with Roxas, Cloud, Leon and Sora. Only one day, and he was missing them already.

Beside him Hope was already asleep, and he sighed. Somehow he'd gained a travelling partner. Now he not only had to look after himself, but after her too. After all, he was three years older than she was. Riku sighed, and closed his eyes, hoping to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

_**At Cloud's house~**_

"I can't stand this," Sora muttered in frustration. Riku was selfish enough to go off on his own. Why hadn't he asked Sora to go with him? The answer? He was an idiot. Dumb Riku thought he could find the cure on his own. He thought he was the only one suffering. Wrong. Sora wondered how Riku could be so brainless. It wasn't like it was safe out there either. There had been constant reports of people's children running amok, either killing or injuring people.

"Sora," Roxas mumbled, throwing a pillow at his twin. Sora dodged it, and Roxas sighed, stretching out on his bed. In truth, he didn't really care about Riku, but he hated seeing his brother like this.

"I'm going after him," Sora said out of the blue. Roxas shot up into a sitting position. "You're not going anywhere," he growled. He was not going to let his brother go after Riku. No way. Every teen out there would see him as potential bait, and as far as Roxas knew, neither of them had a so-called ability to protect them. Roxas jumped to his feet and snatched Sora's bag away.

"Roxas!" Sora whined, making a grab for his bag. Roxas jumped quickly out of his reach, and Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "Is this you saying that you're coming too?"

Roxas's face twisted into an expression of thought and confusion. Honestly, he'd never really thought about going out there as well... but if his brother was going to, and there was no way of stopping him, then Roxas would surely go along as well. "Fine," he sighed, throwing Sora's bag at him. It hit Sora full in the face, and he toppled over and landed awkwardly on his bed. Roxas grinned, packing his own things.

"But I have no clue how we're going to get passed Cloud and Leon," Sora mumbled. Roxas grinned. He did.

_**Axel, Demyx and Zexion~**_

((Axel POV))

Okay. This was weird. There was no one. When we exited the orphanage, there was literally no one in sight. True, it was almost dark, but you'd think there'd be at least a couple of cars around... nope. Nothing.

"Axel?" Demyx waved a hand in front of my face, and I jumped, coming out of my imagination, and back to the real world. "Zexion says he can't see anyone," Demyx said, glancing around himself.

"How's Zexy's vision different to either of ours?" I said sarcastically. Zexion shot me a nasty look at the use of his nickname. "He can create illusions. Surely he can tell what's real and what exists around here," Demyx answered proudly. I stared at the pair, dumbstruck. Since when did Zexion have an ability??

"When I woke up, I discovered it," Zexion said simply, answering my question before I could voice it. I shrugged, instantly regretting it. My shoulder cried out in annoyance, and I bit my lip to prevent a hiss from escaping my mouth. Demyx looked up at the sky. "You know, I reckon we should find some shelter. It's getting pretty dark..." he trailed off into silence, and I sighed, knowing he was right.

"Where do you want to go, then?" I asked. I didn't care where we stayed, but I knew we had to go left if we wanted to get to the middle of town. Demyx pointed to a nearby shop. I followed Zexion and Demyx until we reached the door, and we all stopped, standing in front of it. The pair looked to me. "What?" I asked, suddenly confused.

"Can you open it?" Demyx asked hesitantly. I sighed. There was a lock on the door, but would an alarm go off if I did? Would the police come and take us away? I scoffed at my sudden train of thought. Since when had I been worried about the cops? "Yeah, whatever..." I muttered striding over to the door and lying my hand on the metal around the lock.

Demyx and Zexion watched, fascinated, as the metal melted from under my hand, and when I was satisfied, I pulled back, and kicked against the door with my foot. It swung open easily, and we all filed inside, eager to get into somewhere sheltered.

"Whoa." I spun to face Demyx, and I caught what he was looking at. The shelves. There was nothing on them. Everything was clear. There were a few discarded objects thrown here and there, but apart from that, everything else was gone. "What do you think happened?" Demyx whispered, not removing his gaze from the empty shelves. I sighed, taking a seat on the carpet, making sure I was out of view from the doorway.

"Think about it," I said sarcastically, closing my eyes. "All the teens in the town have been injected with this serum. Then, some of them start going crazy. I think they had the right idea. Closing everything and jumping town..." I muttered, yawning and letting my duffle bag slip off my shoulder.

Zexion muttered something, but I didn't catch it. Sleep pounced upon me so quickly, that I didn't even notice Demyx sitting down beside me.

_**School~**_

"Hnn," Riku mumbled as he rolled over. Light was filtering in through the high gym windows. He opened his eyes sleepily, and spotted Hope. What made him do a double take, was the ball. She was bouncing it loudly, and the sound was reverbrating throughout the entire gym.

"She shoots...!" Hope called, not noticing that Riku was awake and sitting, watching her. She flung the ball into the air, and it went sailing through the basketball hoop at her end of the gym. "She scores!" Hope shouted triumphantly, throwing her arms in the air and taking a bow to an imaginary crowd. Riku sighed and stood up. "Where'd you get the ball?" He asked, his voice echoing across the gym to where Hope stood with her back to him.

At the sound of Riku's voice, she swung around. Even from where he was, Riku could see that she was embarrassed that she'd been caught, playing in her imaginary world. "Uh, the equipment room was open," she said, pointing to a small room to Riku's right. He hadn't noticed it before now. The doors were indeed ajar. Riku made his way over to the open doors, and peered inside. Sadly, there was only sports equipment. What was he expecting? Food?

"Wanna play a game?" Hope asked from next to him. Riku jumped, and stared down at her. Was she joking? "Uh... I don't have time for a game," Riku said, turning back to the mats. Panic washed over him for a second. His bag was gone.

"Hmm, what will I do with this then?" Hope asked. She was standing several metres away from Riku, swinging his bag and looking at it with confusion. Riku clenched his teeth. "Give it back, Hope," he said, extending a hand. She looked at it without interest.

"No, I don't think I will. I'm hungry, bored, and someone who is perfect to play a game with has just refused me. So, I think, that if you win, and catch me, then you can have your bag back." Hope jumped gracefully to her feet, and Riku seethed, taking a couple of long strides towards her. "Wait!" Hope yelled, and Riku stopped in surprise. "All you have to do is tag me, and I'll give you your bag back. Lets begin!" She grinned, slinging the bag over her shoulder, and taking a stance.

"I don't want to play games with you, Hope," Riku said, running towards her. Hope jumped easily to the side, and Riku's outstretched hand grasped at nothing. "Got to be quicker than that, Riku," Hope teased, winking at her opponent. Riku clenched his jaw together. I don't have time for this! He screamed in his head, lunging at Hope a couple more times. She was younger than him, yes, but she was quicker on her feet.

"I give up," Riku said moodily. He turned away from the grinning girl, and back to the mats, crossing his arms. He spotted the ball that Hope had been playing with, and suddenly felt a rush of anger towards it. Swinging his foot back, he pushed all the energy he had into it, and kicked the ball. It went sailing over the mats, and collided with the wall, but what splattered against the hard surface, was not the ball.

"What the hell did you do?" Hope asked in incredulty. Riku stared at the wall, dumbstruck, and Hope dropped his bag at his feet, and rushed over to the splattered wall. "Cool..." She muttered, extending a finger towards the substance. She wiped a finger along the wall, examined it, and before Riku could pull her back, she stuck her finger in her mouth.

"Are you insane?" Riku yelled, rushing forwards and yanking Hope back from the wall. She was still sucking her finger, and she was staring at the wall in awe. "That tastes really yummy," she said suddenly, looking up at Riku. Her eyes glittered blue and green. "It tastes like a milkshake."

Riku's jaw hung open, and he snapped his mouth shut, letting go of Hope. As soon as his grasp was no longer holding her back, she ran, not to the wall, as Riku thought she would, but into the sports equipment room. She appeared again before him with a tennis ball, and boldly, she strode up and handed it to him.

"I want a hamburger," she demanded. Riku looked at her for a moment to see if she was joking, but she wasn't. Everything about her was serious. "What do you want me to do about it?" He asked, and she pointed to the ball in his hand. "Do the same thing to that, as you did to that," she said, pointing over at the milk splattered wall. Riku looked from Hope, to the wall, to the tennis ball in his hand.

He didn't have a clue what he was doing, but like Hope, he was starving, and there was no way he could survive long enough to find the cure, in other words, destroy the tower that was admitting a signal, without eating. He stared intently at the ball, and thought of the hamburger that Hope desired. He wished, with everything he had, that this would work.

_**Roxas and Sora~**_

"Roxas, what are you doing?" Sora whispered. Roxas waved a hand, shushing him. The two had escaped the house, leaving a note behind for Cloud and Leon when they woke up, telling them where they'd gone. No doubt they'd both be furious, but what could they do? Roxas only hoped that they would stay at home. Maybe call the cops or something. He'd written in the note not to follow them, but he never knew.

Sora nudged his brother, and Roxas scowled at him. The pair of them were hiding behind a corner, watching this group of three people. After watching them for a few hours, Roxas had decided to ambush them, and try and get as much information out of them as he could. He'd told Sora of his plan, but Sora didn't agree with him. What if they were crazy? What if they had abilities?

Roxas had pushed that all aside. Seeing Sora deteriorating at the absence of Riku was doing his head in. He hated to see his brother like this, and he was determined to make Sora happy.

"Sora, any second now..." Roxas muttered in a voice that was barely audible. The group of three were coming closer, and they looked pretty out of place. One silver haired, with his fringe covering one of his eyes, the other next to him, had blonde-ish hair in a mullet, who Roxas thought looked the most normal person in the group, and the third was walking in front of the pair. He was tall, carrying a bag like the other two, and his hair was a fiery red.

"Go Sora," Roxas said under his breath, jumping out from behind the corner at the same time as his brother. Roxas took on the red haired male, while Sora grabbed the other two. The three weren't expecting an ambush, and they didn't have their defenses up, so Sora and Roxas took them down easily.

((Axel POV))

Bloody brats. They jumped us. I hissed as I felt one of them poke at my shoulder, and when he heard me hiss, he chuckled. I wanted so badly to tear him off me and wack him. Just once, at least. He deserved a black eye. The other male, that looked like his twin, had taken Demyx and Zexion down on his own. We should've expected this. And, I thought, we shouldn't have travelled in daylight. We were stupid. Now, we were most likely going to be killed by these two guys. Damn needles. Whoever invented them, I hoped they were dead. Maybe being tortured. Either way...

"Hey." Great. One was talking to me. I grunted. "If you so much as try to touch us, we won't hesitate to kill you. We only want information." Wait a second. Could this mean that they weren't turned crazy?

"What's your name?" I bit out, my shoulder burning with agony. The male sitting on my back lessened the weight he was inflicting, as if he was hesitating. "Roxas," he said carefully. The name seemed familiar. Roxas, Roxas... I knew it. A memory clicked. It had to be a couple of years ago now, but him and his brother accidentally got on the wrong side of some druggies. Sora. I remembered now.

"Is your brother Sora?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't hurt me. The pain in my shoulder was bad enough. I remembered how protective he was of his brother. He'd fought off several men to protect Sora. That was when I'd stepped in to help. He didn't look like he could take much more, then. He was bruised and bloody, but the men he'd fought were all unconscious. He was good.

The weight on top of me shifted, and I screamed out in pain as Roxas squeezed me shoulder. "Axel? You know these guys?" Demyx asked from somewhere behind me. His voice sounded slightly strained. Maybe he was being sat on also.

"Axel? Is that your name?" Roxas sounded careful, and the weight disappeared from on top of me, as well as the squeezing sensation from my shoulder. I gasped at the sudden relief, getting to my feet. "Yeah..." I breathed, getting my balance and trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. By the feel of it, Roxas had made it worse. It was most likely bleeding again.

"Argh! What the hell did you do to me!?" Sora yelled, glaring at Demyx. Demyx looked tired, but triumphant. Zexion was free too, and Sora was frozen to the wall, his hands above his head.

"What did you do to my brother?" Roxas growled at me. His bright blue eyes were filled with utter hatred. "Hey, I did nothing!" I said innocently, staring at Demyx, who was standing in front of Zexion and glaring at Sora. Zexion was supporting a swollen lip. Note to self. Never mess with Zexion, or Demyx will kill me.

"Dem, I'm going to let him go," I said, stumbling slightly over to where Sora was frozen to the wall. Demyx stared at me for a moment, and then sighed, dropping his protective stance. He turned to examine Zexion, while I moved to Sora. Roxas stood, uncertain of whether he should lunge at me, or watch. I extended a hand towards Sora, and as my fingers came into contact with it, the ice melted.

Roxas looked on, dumbstruck, while Sora stared at me in awe. When he was free, I clasped my shoulder, and sat down on the footpath. My shoulder was stinging, and I clenched my teeth. "We've heard that people have abilities..." Roxas said, "But we've never actually seen it for ourselves until now."

"Good for you," I muttered sarcastically. "Now leave us alone or I'll burn you to a crisp," I threatened, confirming my words by holding my hand out, letting the flames dance on my palm. Sora looked at me slightly fearfully, but Roxas showed none at all.

"Actually, we'd like to join your group," he said bravely. I stared at him in shock. So did his brother. So, this wasn't what he was expecting, then? A change of plans eh? "Fine," I hissed. The hiss directed more at the pain my shoulder was expressing, rather than at the twins in front of me. Either way, they both flinched.

_**Hours later~**_

"Sorry about that," Roxas said for the hundredth time. I frowned. I'd already told him he didn't need to apologise. We'd been travelling for ages now, and he'd asked me questions, all the while saying sorry about my shoulder. I didn't care. If he had a healing ability or something, _then_ I would care. But he didn't, so I had to cope with the pain.

"I think we should stop soon," I heard Demyx say from behind me. Sora seconded the idea. I sighed, beginning my search for a suitable place to stay. "Over there would be good," Zexion said, pointing over to a school. I stared. It was definitely a school. It was like the orphanage, but bigger and more sophisticated.

"Fine," I said, and everyone filed through the open doors. The fact that it was open couldn't be good. It meant that someone had been here before us. I sincerely hoped there was no one else inside.

"Look!" Sora squealed. We were in a gym. It was a huge room; two basketball courts wide. There were mats stacked in the corner. My eyes widened at the sight before me.

"Riku must've been here!" Sora said excitedly. Who the hell was Riku?

Zexion and Demyx didn't stand around like we did. They walked straight over to a mat and pulled it down. Altogether, there were five mats. Unfortunately, two were covered in what looked like food scraps, and they were unusable. I sighed. I'd have to share with either Roxas or Sora. Unless they shared... but by the look on Roxas's face, I didn't think he was going to be sharing anytime soon.

"Sora, you're on your own. There is no way I'm going to be pulverised by you when you decide to do whatever it is when you sleep." Roxas sounded tired, and Sora nodded, looking partially embarrassed.

"Fine," I sighed. "Looks like I'm sharing with you Roxas, but be careful of my arm." I pointed to my left arm, and he nodded, pulling two mats down, sliding one to his brother. The mats weren't big enough for two people. I only noticed this after I'd laid down. Because of this, I virtually had to hug Roxas to me. Strangely, I didn't seem to mind the closeness. I fell asleep to the sound of Roxas's snoring.

_A/N: Heh, I hope you enjoyed it! I had so much fun writing this! I almost couldn't stop. lol XP Well, please review, and I need two more people to give me ideas for two different characters. (not KH characters... any name) Even if you just tell me a name. Preferably nothing too common, like Bob or something. I'm horrible when it comes to thinking of names, so any suggestions I would greatly appreciate! Thankyou so much!_

If anyone still wants to be part of the story, then let me know before I start writing the next couple of chapters! XD I don't know if you'll last as long as Hope will, heh, but I promise you'll be in there!! ^^

_Oh, and it's my birthday on the 12th of May! Whooo! XD _


	5. The Power of Hope

_A/N: WHOOO! The author who gave me the idea for Andromeda... YOU ROCK!! (the party... lol) ANYWHO... thank you so so so much to all the people who have reviewed!! ^^ Reviews are love. Please leave some love behind. xoxo_

**Disclaimer: No ownage of KH... blah-dee-blah. BUT!! I do own this fanfic idea. Sadly, I do not profit from it... WAIT...! But I do. Reviews are my precious payment. LOL XP I love me some reviews. Pop me one if you like the fanfic so far! ^^**

**Chapter 5**

((Axel POV))

"Gah!" I jolted awake and rolled over instinctively, in the opposite direction to which I had been hit. Jeering and laughter hit my ears, and I looked over to where Sora and Roxas were standing. I shot them a nasty glare, rubbing my head. Getting struck in the head with a ball when you are tired and hungry, cannot make for a good outcome. I sighed and heaved, getting lazily to my feet.

"Oi," I said clearly. Zexion and Demyx were still asleep. "Hey," Roxas called over to me, and I looked up, unamused. "Sorry about the ball. Sora threw it..." he muttered. I grunted and looked back at the two snuggly orphans in front of me. "Get up!" I said more forcefully, nudging them both with my foot. They groaned and Demyx squinted at me, sheilding his eyes from the glare of sunshine coming through the gym windows.

"Do we 'ave to?" Demyx groaned. I sighed and crossed my arms; Demyx slowly sat up, beginning to shake Zexion gently awake.

"How's your shoulder Axel?" Sora asked me slyly. I jumped at his sudden appearance by my side. "Uh..." Now that I thought about it, it wasn't hurting as much as it had been. Hell, it wasn't hurting at all anymore.

Roxas seemed to nudge his brother, and Sora grinned hugely. "I got an ability!" He sang, and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't really anything to be proud of. Moreover, it was a symbol of those nasty injections, and what the product of them was.

"I can heal things!" Sora chirped proudly. Roxas crossed his arms next to his brother; a bit of sibling rivalry, eh? I smirked at the pair; they were oblivious. "Hey," I said slowly, rounding on Sora. Roxas took a protective stance next to his brother, but I ignored him. "I'm not a thing," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. Maybe it was because I was tired, and I hadn't had anything to eat, but I swung my fist out at Sora.

To my dismay, I hit nothing, and instead found my fist caught in that of another's. "Don't touch my brother, Axel," Roxas whispered, throwing my hand away. Sora looked perplexed at my sudden outburst. So, I could be a bit bipolar at times... I shrugged the encounter off, and turned to see Demyx and Zexion standing, ready to proceed in our journey. I scoffed to myself. Some journey... stopping deranged teens from dominating human kind...

"Axel." I jumped as someone punched my arm, and scowled down at Roxas. "Don't touch me," I said, mimicking the tone he'd just used to address myself. The blonde shrugged and followed the group out the gym door. I sighed, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I took one last glance at the messy gym behind me, and quickly chased after the gang.

_**Somewhere else... unknown~**_

"Helloooo? Is anyone there?" Hope called out, cupping her hands over her mouth to gain better volume over her call. "Are you insane!?" Riku spat, grabbing Hope by the front of her dress and pressing her against a wall, concealing them both in shadows. Even in the slight darkness, Riku caught Hope's expression of disgust.

"You're so horrible when it comes to manners," she sighed, kicking Riku away from herself. He glared at her in frustration, but stepped back and they resumed their walk down the silent, empty street. "I think I should teach you some proper manners," Hope said matter-o-factly. Riku glanced at the girl, and rolled his eyes.

She's not serious, he thought. "No way," he said shortly, examining their surroundings for the umpteenth time. "I have better things to do than listen to you ramble on..." As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he felt the sting on his cheek, and the echo of Hope's slap bounced off the walls and fences of surrounding houses. He blinked in surprise, and stared into the shimmering eyes of Hope.

"Now that I've shut you up," she said, sounding somewhat annoyed, "I think that I can pick the direction we'll go." Hope stared down the small street, and Riku sighed as he saw the fork in the road.

"No."

"What do you mean, no??" Hope growled in frustration, crossing her arms. She huffed. "You're so rude, and impossible. I don't even know why you're out here. You haven't told me anything. I can't believe I'm even travelling with you."

Riku sighed, brushing some silvery hair out of his eyes. "Hope." The girl swung around to look at him, surprised at the sound of his voice. "I've been to the centre of town with my..." he struggled for the right words, and hesitantly chose one, "guardians, Cloud and Leon. I'm out here because I have to be. And," he sighed, "you're travelling with me because you have no one else to be with at the moment."

Hope sighed, uncrossing her arms and letting them dangle by her sides, swinging them as she walked. Riku pondered his words, and mentally hit himself. 'You have no one else to be with...' It makes me sound like I want to hook up with her, Riku thought, becoming distracted and not focusing on the surroundings he was in.

"Look out!" Hope cried, grabbing Riku and shoving him into a nearby garden; she followed closely behind him, and the two landed, sprawled on the grass. "What the hell was that for!?" Riku hissed furiously, glaring at Hope. She wasn't looking at him.

"Well, lovely to meet you. My name's Ookami." Before them stood a feirce-looking male, roughly the same height as Riku. His clothing was torn, and his light brown hair was a mess. Dried blood riddled his nails, and when he grinned maliciously at Hope, Riku saw that he had two pearly white fangs. His eyes shone a light green colour, and Riku felt Hope tense beside him. She could see as clearly as he could, that those green pools held the deep desire for fights, and blood.

"Ookami can't be your real name," Hope whispered at last. Riku was surprised how brave she sounded. She wasn't shaking, and her voice didn't break. Ookami's eyes flashed, and he chuckled. "Ah, yes, you are correct. My real name I have forgotten. Ookami is my name now."

Was there any point to that sentence? Riku thought in puzzlement. "Ookami means wolf," Hope muttered by Riku's side. He nodded. Now he understood.

Ookami, or whoever he was, licked his lips, chuckling gleefully. He had found his next victims. And he could tell that they were not planning to attack him. Ookami crouched low to the ground, a snarl emitting from his throat, getting louder as it proceeded past his lips. He smiled in ecstasy as he examined the expressions of his victims, and then he pounced, his nails sharp and ready to tear at his vitim's flesh.

"Wait!" Hope shouted, loudly and clearly. She was on her feet, standing in front of a stunned Riku. Her hands remained by her sides, but something about her was different, intimidating. "You will not hurt either of us," she said slowly, staring down at the cold green eyes of Ookami.

Riku stared on stunned, in shock that the wolf-teen was actually obeying the small fourteen year old in front of him. Hope pointed a finger at the creature crouching in front of her, and it whimpered. Riku's jaw dropped. "Hope, what're you doing?" He gasped in amazement.

"Sh." She didn't turn to look at him. Neither did he want her to. He was indeed scared, although he would never admit it. Hope had some sort of control over Ookami, and all this time he'd thought her to be a pathetic, weak girl, who was only interested in playing games, and not in anything remotely similar to the real world.

"Go!" Hope cried loudly, to which Ookami whined. "Attack the one by the name of Andromeda!"

Who? Riku was completely lost now, but Ookami apparently, was not. He nodded once, appearing as if in a daze, and turned tail and ran. Hope watched him run until he was out of sight, and then sighed, turning back to Riku and rubbing her eyes.

"What the hell was that?" To Riku's surprise, his voice sounded dry and hoarse, and Hope shot him a look. "Think I'm stupid and pathetic now?" She asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Uh..." Riku scratched his neck awkwardly.

"Such an intelligent response," Hope commented sarcastically, to which Riku grunted. "Thanks," he muttered, to which Hope threw her hands in the air. "Is that all? I just saved your sorry butt, and THAT is all you have to say? Well, excuse me."

Riku stared after the girl as she strode quickly away from him, her black dress prominent in the light colours of the surrounding street. It took him a moment to realise that he should move and chase after her. "Wait!" He called.

Hope spun around, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Riku stared down at her, but to his surprise, Hope's eyes were not showing anger and hostility as he expected, but fatigue. "Are you alright?" Riku asked cautiously, taking several slow steps toward the small girl in front of him. Hope nodded, and then tears poured out of her eyes.

"What's the matter?" Riku asked in alarm, unsure of what to do. Hope collapsed and Riku lunged forward and caught her fragile form before it hit the ground. "Get off me," Hope hissed, shoving Riku away. Riku didn't let the girl go, and she struggled in his grip.

"Hope, I don't know what's wrong unless you tell me."

Hope pulled hard against Riku's grip, and he let her go. She took a few steps away from him, and rubbed her eyes again. "I'm in pain you jerk," she sobbed. "But I'm still angry at you."

"Huh?" Why was she angry at him?

"Ugh, you're so thick!" Hope sighed dramatically. "You didn't even look genuine when you thanked me." Hope looked up into Riku's eyes, and he flinched. Now they were showing anger and hostility. He tried to say something, but he was frozen to the spot.

"Next time, be a little more grateful. Next time I might only save myself." Hope blinked and looked away from Riku's face, and he found he could move again. It's her eyes, he realised. She had some psychic ability... Not only that, but she was seeminly crazy herself... moodswings, he concluded.

"Let's get moving," Riku mumbled, his voice hollow. Hope said nothing, and the pair continued to walk, becoming closer to their destination with each step.

_**With Axel and the group~**_

((Axel POV))

"Finally," Demyx moaned, rubbing his stomach full of food. I rolled my eyes at his dramatic fall as he purpously sank to the ground. I had to admit though, having a full stomach was always a great thing.

"This was a good spot, Rox," Sora grunted passed a mouthful of muffin. I smirked, and Roxas shrugged. "It wasn't that hard to find..." Sure as hell it was. We'd been walking around for an hour trying to locate this tiny, abandoned deli. And when we had arrived here, it absolutely stank. I cringed at the memory of burning all the off meat. The smell still lingered, clinging to my clothes.

"So, do you know which way to go from here?" Zexion asked me, dusting his hands and brushing the crumbs off his clothes. I frowned, looking through my mental map. I came up with nothing.

"Nope."

Demyx and Zexion stared at me, almost in horror, and Roxas laughed. "Don't worry guys. We know the way. We've been there with-"

Roxas was cut off by a blood chilling scream, and all of us sat bolt upright. Roxas and I were on our feet first. "What was that?" Sora asked, looking wide-eyed and fearful. It was hard to believe that this guy had helped Roxas mug me.

"HELP ME!!"

Roxas and I were out the deli door before any of the others in the room could blink, and we dashed to where the source of the screaming was. What we were met with, was the scene of a male, shorter than myself, but taller than Roxas, looming over a terrified girl. Her blue eyes were riddled with fear, and her blonde hair was a mess.

"Get away from her!" Roxas yelled, glaring at the girl's attacker.

The male spun around, and I was shocked, almost rooted to the spot. He had fangs. His eyes were cold and green, filled with bloodlust, and he snarled when he saw us. "Ookami will kill Andromeda..." he hissed, turning swiftly back to the girl.

I noticed that her clothes were torn, and blood was flowing down her right arm. It was hanging limply by her side, and she was using the other one to sheild her face. "Help!" She screamed, looking at us desperately. Roxas swung into action before I did, landing a powerful kick to the back of Ookami's head.

I stood stunned when the guy didn't collapse, and instead rounded on us and snarled, his eyes shining. "Ookami will kill these brats first," he growled gleefully to himself. Roxas was readying himself for another kick, but I snatched him out of the way a second before Ookami could pounce on him. We landed roughly on the ground.

"Uh," Roxas mumbled, staring up at me. I noticed how close he to me then, and to my great discomfort, a strange wave of nausea pelted through my system. Before I could throw up, I pulled away from the position I'd landed in; which happened to be on top of Roxas, and concentrated on Ookami; the wave of nausea vanished as quickly as it had come. Strange.

"Gah!" I stumbled out of the way just in time, hearing Ookami land clumsily behind me. "Roxas, grab the girl and get her to Sora!" I yelled, dodging another pounce from Ookami. He didn't seem to care that he kept missing, he just kept going, bloodlust urging him on.

"What about you?" Roxas yelled back. He was carrying Andromeda carefully in his arms, so as not to hurt her further, and was standing a fair distance away from me.

Since when did anyone even care about me? Reno had died, and then I'd had no one. Demyx and Zexion didn't count, really. They had each other. "I'll be fine!" As soon as I shouted my response, I was shoved hard into the bituomen. I let out a cry of pain, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roxas hesitate.

"GO!" I yelled, clenching my teeth. I couldn't believe what I was doing. I was putting myself in danger to save someone else. And, I thought suddenly, this was the second time I'd helped Roxas. What was it about him, that made him so special?

"Argh!" I screamed, my eyes watering in pain as Ookami sank his sharp teeth into my leg. "Now you can't run away," he sang happily, his eyes scanning my form, choosing which part of me to bite into next. The stopped on my neck, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"No!" I yelled as Ookami pounced at me again. A surge of heat engulfed my body, and I opened my eyes, staring around. Flames licked at every part of my body, emitting a pleasant warmth. I guessed that they were white hot though, judging to the large pile of ashes on the ground near me. I shuddered out of horror at what I had just done, and immediately the warmth around me died away.

"Axel!" Roxas ran out to me hurriedly, as if expecting to fight some more, but he came to an immediate halt when he saw that it was only me who was sitting there. "Axel?" Roxas said again, this time sounding hesitant. I was shaking, I could feel it. I had just taken someone's life. It didn't matter that he was crazy, he was still flesh and blood. He was still a human. Now he was gone.

"Are you okay?" I flinched at Roxas's voice. He'd come closer. I looked away, hoping he didn't see the terror and sadness in my eyes. I was as bad as the ones who had taken my brother. I had taken a life too. I was just as bad as Reno's killers.

"Can you walk?" Roxas extended a careful hand towards me, and I stared at it. How could he even accept my company? I was a killer. Something that I had sworn I would never be, even though living on the streets forced you to become one. Not me. I was strong. I was. Was being the past tense. Now I am a killer.

"Get away from me," I said, my voice hollow. I looked away from Roxas's hand, and heard it as it fell to his side. "You did what you had to do," Roxas whispered suddenly. I turned to stare at him. Was he even serious?

"He would have killed you, Axel." Roxas sat down a metre from me, and spoke again softly, "If you had've died just then, what do you think your friends would have done?"

Friends. I didn't have any friends. They had each other. They didn't need me.

"Ookami would've killed them all. We need your strength Axel. You hold us together." Roxas sighed, standing up. I blinked and stared at the bituomen, rethinking his words. Was I really needed? Or was he just saying this? Surely, he was just saying this. They couldn't need me this much.

"I need you Axel." Roxas's voice was barely a whisper, and I swung my head up to look at him. He was looking away from me. "If you hadn't helped me those years ago, Sora would be alone, and I would be dead. I would have bled out from my wounds, but thanks to you, I survived."

He turned his head to look at me, and his eyes were shining. I didn't know how to react, and so I did nothing. Just stared up into his bright blue eyes. When he sighed and looked away from me, my heart gave an inaudible jolt of... frustration? Did I want Roxas to come closer to me? I shook my head, trying hard to clear it.

"Axel," Roxas said. He sounded... different. "We'd better get back inside. There might be more out here." As he said this, he looked around suspisiously, his gaze eventually landing on me. I smiled sheepishly.

"I can't stand. Ookami kinda ate my leg..." I pointed down to where Ookami had bitten me, and Roxas's eyes widened a couple of centimetres. "We'd better get you in to Sora. Quickly."

I nodded, letting Roxas pull me slowly into a standing position. At his touch, my face became warm, and the nauseating feeling came back to my stomach. I clenched my jaw together; I only had to last long enough to get inside the deli.

"Roxas!" Sora ran to his twin's side when Roxas and I stumbled awkwardly through the door, and I scowled. It took him several moments to realise that _I_ was the one who was injured, not Roxas.

"Uh... sit down over there," Sora said, pointing to a nearby shelf. There was a decent amount of floor space around it, and I winced as I made my way over to said spot. I was now beginning to notice the shooting pain in my leg, and I groaned loudly as I sunk to the ground. As soon as Roxas was no longer touching me, the nausea died away. I didn't have enough time to dwell on this, though, as Sora was seconds on the uptake of healing me.

"Ah." He rubbed his hands together, and I looked down at my thigh, my eyes widening as I saw how much blood there was. It had seeped out of the wound, soaking my torn black jeans. I inwardly cursed. These were my favourite, and only pair of decent pants.

"This might be a... erm... awkward..." Sora mumbled, inching closer to me. My brow furrowed as I wondered what the reason behind his words were, but it seemed to click as he began to heal me.

Sora's hands gently massaged my thigh, and I shifted uncomfortably, momentarily thanking my guardian angel that it wasn't Roxas doing this. Who knows what my reaction might've been... I shook my head, trying to clear it.

As the brunette continued to massage my thigh, the pain soon dulled and faded away, and I felt as normal as I had felt before I'd had to fight Ookami. That is, excluding the fact that I had an affinity to fire...

"Th-Thank you."

I looked up at the person who'd spoken. It was the blonde from before. I cocked my head to one side. What was her name...?

"Uh..." Sora backed away and sat a fair distance away from me, no doubt feeling awkward about the place he'd just massaged, and I didn't bother to thank him. The last time he'd healed me, he'd made up for it by throwing a ball at my head. I frowned.

"I'm Andromeda," the girl smiled, her blue eyes twinkling in the light that shone through the deli windows. I smiled back, but it didn't touch my eyes. From what I had seen so far, the girls who had been injected like myself, weren't very... sane.

"Axel," I replied shortly. The rest of the group followed suit, and I wondered if what Roxas had said about them needing me was true.

"Demyx!" The blonde waved, grinning, and introduced the silverette by his side. "That's Zexion, my boyfriend." He stuck a thumb at Zexion, who nodded at Andromeda. She smiled, looking over at the twins.

"Roxas." He pointed to his brother. "Sora." Sora waved like Demyx had; I wondered if the two were going to become fast friends.

"Well, now that the introductions are over," I said, getting to my feet, "We'd better get going."

"But, what about Andromeda? We can't just leave her behind!" Demyx cried, thrusting his arms in the direction of the blond girl. I sighed, looking over at her. I noticed that she'd fixed herself up a bit, and she looked nicer now. Her silky blonde hair was tied back in a braid, and she'd straightened out her white blouse, although it was still stained red and was torn on her left shoulder. Her jeans were untouched, and looked almost new, and for the first time, I noticed she had no shoes.

"I didn't say we were leaving her behind," I exhaled impatiently. "She'll get killed if we leave her here." Demyx cheered triumphantly and slapped me cheerfully on the back. I grimaced and located my bag, routinely swinging it over my shoulder.

I led the group out the deli, and into the light of the sun. I didn't really see a problem with travelling in the daylight now. Our group was so big, and on top of that, most of us had abilities, and one of us was a healer.

"Axel!" Sora's voice called from somewhere behind me, and I swung around, giving him a confused stare. "What?"

The small teen pointed at my torn, bloody pants. "You need new clothes. We all do."

I looked up from my own attire and quickly examined everyone else. Sora was indeed correct. The materials everyone wore were torn, dirty, and in some cases bloody. I frowned.

"Fine," I growled in annoyance. It was time to go clothes shopping.

"Does this mean we'll be going shopping?" Andromeda asked. I stared at her, and judging by her tone, she was feeling frustrated and maybe even disgusted by it. I thought most females liked shopping?

"Uh... technically it's not shopping... since we don't have any money, and the place will be abandoned anyway."

"Thanks for your almighty knowledge," I replied sarcastically to Roxas. He smirked, and began to walk off. I followed him, lagging behind the group. Since I didn't know my way from here, somebody else had to lead.

My first time going clothes shopping, and I was already hating it.

_A/N: Okay, I need names. I REALLY NEED THEM!! I have an idea, it's not big, but it's something... and I need the names of at least three teens. Maybe their appearance, ability/no abilty and age, if people decide to be nice. ^^ lol. Uh... oh yeah, and I'd prefer them to be boys names, but they can be girls if you like. ^^_

_Anyway, please leave a review! "Take nothing but the experience of reading, and leave nothing but reviews!!"_


	6. Alliances

_A/N: Wah! There is a bit of bad language in this one... I don't usually swear! :O_

_For anyone who cares... I just sneezed. -_-"_

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kh... or the characters etc. Hope and Andromeda aren't mine either, but Ivor, Blane and Ink are. XD**

**Chapter 6**

((Axel POV))

"Ugh," I groaned loudly, stumbling slightly as Demyx threw another pile of shirts at me. I really didn't understand him. Maybe he just simply liked shopping. Well, our version of shopping. The weight of the clothes I was carrying wasn't heavy, just bulky, and I was struggling when it came to balance. Demyx wasn't helping my situation, as he was throwing every available item of clothing at me.

"Demyx!" I huffed in frustration as the last pair of sweat pants was thrown at me. It sheilded my vision, and I stumbled, losing my balance. I was temporarily blind.

"Axel!" Roxas's voice called out and I felt my weight becoming steady again. Still, I was blind, and I couldn't lift the pants off my face because my hands were occupied. Roxas's laugh met my ears, and light flooded my vision. I could see again.

"Thanks..." I muttered roughly. Something about the grinning blonde in front of me made me feel different. I frowned, and Roxas took some items from my hands, distributing the bulk. I nodded a thank you, and he sighed.

"What?"

"Why is it, that you seem to treat me differently?" Roxas's question caught me off guard. I hadn't expected him to be so up-front. I almost stumbled again; this was very unlike myself. Never had I let emotions weigh me down. Not since Reno anyway. What was it with this kid!?

"How old are you?" I asked impatiently. I was weighing on the edge of fifteen or sixteen, judging by how small and annoying he seemed to be.

"Seventeen," he answered easily. The shock was clearly apparent in my face, because he laughed. How the hell can this runt be the almost same age as me? I thought in disbelief. Sixteen I would've accepted, but seventeen?

"In."

"Gah!" I tripped over the threshold of a small outlet of rooms, and Roxas stood behind me. His arms were now empty, and all of the clothes he was once holding were now on the floor. I turned and shot him a reproachful look. When he'd pushed me, I'd almost fallen on my face.

"Go and change," Roxas said in a bored fashion, taking a seat on the floor. I wondered momentarily where Sora was, but my eyes managed to glimpse him somewhere at the back of the store. He was dancing around, eating all the confectionary. Andromeda stood with him, laughing.

Shaking my head, I heaved the lump of clothes through the first doorway, and drew the musty curtain, a wave of dust fanned out at the movement, and I coughed, waving it away as best as I could.

When Roxas called out sarcastically, asking me if I would die from dust inhalation, I shouted a response, something along the lines of 'shut up' and began to undress.

_**Still in the store, with Demyx and Zexion~**_

"This one looks good," Demyx sang enthusiastically, bouncing over to Zexion. The silver haired male showed little enthusiasm, but you could see that he was happy that Demyx was enjoying himself.

The blonde thrust the pale blue shirt at Zexion, to which he shook his head. "I would not wear that. It suits you, I think."

Demyx grinned widely and sang something about going to put it on. He dashed around into the next aisle, but Zexion caught the scent of something strange. "Demyx, I don't think you should-"

But he was cut off as someone grabbed him from behind. He struggled, trying to get words out, telling Demyx not to come back around the corner. "Ahh... one without an ability. He should be some fun to torture."

'Sick bastards!' Zexion wanted to yell, but instead settled for a muffled cry of burning anger. He felt the growing desire of escape rise within him. He had to do something soon, considering he was almost getting crushed by the taller male which held him in place.

That was when a proverbial light bulb flickered above his head. Although he hadn't used it much to fight, he had been practising with his illusion ability. He hadn't yet found it's limit, however, and this was what excited him.

"What the-" The large, cumbersome male who was once restraining Zexion, threw him away with a strangled gasp. "How many of you little shits are there!?" He yelled, balling his hands into large fists.

The real Zexion was in the middle of the illusions he had created, but the other male didn't know that. The other six Zexions grinned, balling their hands into fists in unison. This made a vein twitch in the cumbersome male's head.

"Ivor!" He yelled, "Gimme a hand here!" While backing away from the many Zexions, the man by the name of Ivor danced around the corner. He was holding Demyx, who was struggling with all his worth against the man's hold, but the small person didn't budge.

"Ah. We have a gifted one!" His small smile stretched over his lips, revealing his teeth, and his violet eyes sparkled. "That makes two of us!" The hand that wasn't restraining Demyx glimmered, changing colour rapidly to a shining silver. Slowly, his arm contorted, becoming a long, sharp blade.

"MMPH!" Demyx screeched, struggling harder at Ivor's side. The man was smaller than Demyx, but clearly he was stronger than what met the eye. Or, he was hard. Unbudgable. A bit like strong metal. That made sense.

Zexion, the real one, made one of his illusions disappear, and the copy reappeared somewhere else, giving a certain red head and another blond a distinct heart attack. What followed was much yelling, until they realised what Zexion's clone's purpose was.

"What do you say to one on one?" Ivor grinned, licking his lips. Zexion stared at the male's tongue in awe. It wasn't a human tongue. It was a snake tongue; it licked at the air and whipped out at nothing, but Zexion knew it was tasting him. He smirked. Ivor would never find the real him. All his illusions smelt the same as he did.

"Hm, interesting," was all Ivor said. Demyx was getting more ferocious with his struggling, and Zexion's stomach lurched when Ivor pressed the blade, which was once his arm, into Demyx's neck, drawing droplets of bright red blood.

"Zexion!" Axel's voice. Zexion momentarily shifted his gaze from the two mostrous creatures in front of him. Bad idea. "Umph!" Zexion felt the slight sting as Ivor stabbed him through the heart; luckily though, it was a clone, and it disappeared right before Ivor's eyes.

((Axel POV))

Crap. More of them. Sora and Andromeda, luckily, were at the other end of the store, and were completely oblivious to the current situation. My heart virtually stopped when that small, reptilian man stabbed through Zexion's heart. I choked on nothing when I realised he was just an illusion.

"Demyx, are you okay?" Stupid question Roxas, stupid. Couldn't you see that he was being gagged by the small dude's hand?

"Who the hell are you two?" I asked, my voice an angry growl. The cumbersome one cackled, his eyes glinting. I hated him already.

"I'm Blane. That's Ivor," he stuck a thumb at the reptile of a man, and a shudder ran up my spine. Something about him seemed off... "The other one's Ink."

Ink. What a stupid name. Wait... other one? Oh. Crap. Roxas was thinking along the same lines as I was, and his bright blue eyes widened in horror. He uttered one word, "Sora..." And then, as quick as a flash, he was gone. No seriously, I blinked, and he was gone.

"Let him GO!" I heard Roxas roar. A distinctive thump could be heard throughout the store, and it bounced off the walls. I just hoped it was Ink that was thumped, and not Roxas. I bit my lip out of concern, my green eyes hovering over Demyx. Why didn't I think of it before?

"Demyx, the music has stopped! What do you do?" I was hoping he would understand me... but confusion met his eyes. Damn. Ivor kept his grip firmly on Demyx, and my stomach formed a tight knot. That feeling of weirdness towards Ivor hadn't yet worn off...

"MMH!" Demyx's eyes lit up with understanding, and moments later, Ivor was screaming. A large, victorious grin met my lips, and Demyx ran to my side. The many Zexion's were sheilding us, and Ivor was hopping around in pain.

"What IS this!?" He screamed, cradling his hand against his chest. It was completely encased in ice. I smirked, and heard Demyx chuckle next to me. I heard the Zexions rumble with laughter, and this only infuriated Ivor more. "Blane! Kill them!"

**(A/N: In case you didn't get it, Axel made a reference to Musical Statues, and when the music stops you have to freeze. Which Demyx did. :P lol)**

I hoped to high heaven that this fat guy didn't have an ability. If so, we were screwed. He threw a punch at my head, which I just managed to duck, sinking to the floor in a crouch. "Axel!" Demyx shouted, pointing at something behind me. Blane was in front, what the hell could possibly be behind-

"Gah!" I was flipped into the air and over the shelf next to me, landing painfully on the linolum floor on the other side. I groaned painfully, rubbing my chest. I think I'd broken a few ribs. Ivor was standing in front of me, wearing an expression of pure rage.

"Duck!" A voice I didn't recognise yelled from behind me, and I obeyed it, ducking right down to the floor. It wasn't that difficult anyway. I was already practically lying down. A form jumped swiftly over me, kicking out at Ivor, whose face wore a stunned expression. He didn't even react, he just stared as the male's foot collided with his face. Ivor went flying.

"Axel, you okay?" Blue eyes connected with my green ones, and I gasped in disbelief, "Andromeda!?"

The person in front of me nodded, smirking. "Well done." Ivor rose to his feet again, staring at us cockily, and a wave of uneasiness swept over me. Something was wrong. "Duck!" I yelled, lurching forward and pulling Andromeda to the floor. I ignored the biting pain from my ribs and clamped my eyes shut.

A wave of electrical energy shot over our heads, and it would've fried us if we were standing. The girl, or boy also flat on the floor with me didn't bother to even mumble a thank you, and instead rose to her, or his, feet once more. "How come you have multiple abilities?" Andromeda demanded.

Ivor smirked, blood leaking from his mouth. "Killed people for 'em, didn't I?" He mumured proudly. I felt sick, but I couldn't move; I was sure I had about three bruised, if not, broken ribs. Why was it always me who got hurt so badly?

"How did you extract the ability," Andromeda snarled. I stared up at her face, her eyes were shining.

"All you have to do is kill them. Maybe touch them as they waste away..." Ivor chuckled, his grin widening. I almost gagged; then something clicked in my memory. Ookami. If what Ivor was saying was true, then did that mean that I could leap high, just like Ookami had when he'd attacked me? I shuddered at the thought of having fangs...

"Don't kill him," I gasped to Andromeda, who stiffened. "I'll kill him if I please," he, or she, snarled, a hand shaping itself into a fist. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a shudder pass through Ivor.

"Kill me if you please," he spat, "But how do you know the abilities won't have a side effect on you? You might want to kill _more_!" Ivor grinned malevolently. I take back the possibility of Ivor shuddering.

"Axel!" My head flicked up to meet the eyes of Demyx, Zexion, Sora and Roxas. "Blane is dead, Ink has fled," Roxas said in an empty voice. Andromeda took the chance of Ivor's momentary lack of concentration, and struck out at him, successfully landing a hard blow to his head. He fell unconscious.

I stared at the limp body of Ivor until somebody spoke, dragging my attention away from him. "Axel? Are you okay?" It was Sora. I sighed, then immediately wished I hadn't. The pain from my ribs throbbed through my chest, causing me to whine in pain.

"Time to heal you again..." Sora exhaled, shaking his head. I scowled up at him, but kept my mouth shut. All the retorts I wanted to throw at him could wait until after he'd healed me. "Ribs, eh?" I didn't bother to nod.

"This isn't gonna be easy..." Sora murmured, placing two hands on my rib cage. I stopped breathing, and stared as he tried to heal me. The pain slowly died away, but there was still a nasty sensation that enjoyed causing me to wince every time it throbbed in my rib cage. I groaned.

"Sora, why can't you heal him?" It was Roxas. He sounded worried.

"I- I don't know. Maybe broken bones are harder, because they aren't flesh wounds..." he trailed off, and I expelled the breath that I'd been holding.

"Is there any way you can help him?" Roxas again. His worry was increasing. Sora furrowed his brow. "I think there's a way that might work, but it's up to Axel. It'll be awkward and uncomfortable..."

Even before Sora had finished speaking, I had already agreed to what healing treatment he was talking about. I only wondered what the hell it was...

_**With Hope and Riku~**_

"So..." Hope was trying her best to make conversation. Riku, however, was completely opposed to whatever was involved with her now though. Hope wondered if she'd rattled him too much... showing her ability like she did, and then getting in a random rage, using it on him too... Hope sighed.

"Sorry Riku..." Hope mumbled. She was supposed to be gaining his trust. That was how her plan was supposed to be working. She moaned in frustration when Riku didn't answer her, and threw her arms up in the air in frustration, but before she could yell something, Riku grabbed her and started pulling her away by the wrist.

"This way." Hope stared at the silver haired male in front of her, and exhaled angrily. He was only trying to figure out what direction they were headed in next? She shook her head. Sometimes, she really didn't understand him...

Although, she countered, it didn't really matter anyway, because by the time he got to the building emitting the signal, he would be dead anyway. Hope grinned, and let Riku continue to pull her along.

"Who's there?" Riku called. Hope rolled her eyes. Who could he possibly be calling for?

"How did you know I was here?" A smooth baritone responded, suddenly materialising in front of Riku and Hope. Hope knew who this was, and if he was here alone, that meant that he hadn't succeed in bringing the healer with him.

"Hi Ink!" Hope grinned enthusiastically, even though she was downright mad. Ink looked up at her blankly, staring with his hazel eyes. "You know this guy?" Riku asked in dibelief.

Hope nodded, pressing her lips into a hard line. Ink ignored her irritated expression, which went unbeknownst to Riku, and he turned to look at the silverette again. "How did you know I was there?" He asked again. Riku looked up at him, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand.

"You rustled some leaves over there," he said, pointing to a small cluster of leaves. Smart, Hope thought. And, since there was no breeze, he'd been correct in his reasoning. "Could Ink travel with us, Riku?" Hope pouted, staring up at the seventeen year old.

"May as well..." Riku shrugged, eyeing the male in front of him. His chocolate brown hair licked at his eyes, and he was wiping it out of the way every now and again, and his hazel eyes were able to sheild you from most of his emotions. The clothes he was wearing looked fairly clean, and it was clear he had an ability; invisibility.

Ink joined the group without verbalising anything he was thinking, and Hope's hand fell out of Riku's. Instead, the girl linked arms with the newcomer, Ink, and grinned when Riku glanced at her. The male shrugged, and continued to walk, unsuspecting of anything that the people behind him were planning.

* * *

_A/N: Heh. How was this for an interesting chapter? ^^ I hope you liked it! Everything is getting more interesting now, especially because there's a lot of secrets!! XD Hope and her plans... Andromeda and her or his true form, and his/her purpose... and Axel. How will he be healed?? lol_

_Anyway... PLEASE REVIEW!!! I don't care if you don't have anything to say. Even just a 'hello. This story is cool.' is enough! ^^_

**Shout outs:**

**Courtii:**_ Thank you so much for reviewing every chapter, and I'm glad you like it so far!! ^^ Oh, and thanks for the idea for Hope. :D She's shrouded in mystery... heh heh. :P_

**PyroTori:**_ Thanks so much for the idea of Andromeda! Plus all the names you mentioned, and the abilities you wrote down. Even though I didn't use them in this chapter, because it was already complete when you reviewed, I will consider using them maybe in the following chapters._

_**You see, when I'm left to my own devices, I make up dumb names, like Ink. I thought of Ivor and Blane, which aren't that bad, but then I had to think of the third... I saw the book Inkheart on my shelf, and I thought, "Hey! Ink!" and that's where his name originated from. (In no way is he connected to Inkheart, however. Other than the name, he is mine. ^^)**_

_**Anywho, if you have any ideas for abilities that aren't so common, or some cool names that you could put down, then leave me a review and let me know!! Thanks!!**_

**Review please!**


	7. Bonds and Suspicions

_A/N: I have exams! No! I don't wanna do them. -_-" Especially math. I'll get a grade lower than fail. Sigh._

_Again, sorry about any spelling errors... grammatical errors... ect. I did the best I could do with Wordpad. My laptop doesn't have Mic. Word. Heh..._

_Anyway, please review! You must! After all, it took me forever to write this chapter, what with all the study I've been doing as well. -o-"_

_REVIEW!!_

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH... Andromeda and Hope aren't mine either... but Ink is. ^^**

**Chapter 7**

((Axel POV))

No way. Not a snowflake's chance in hell. This was insane. Well... compared to everything else that was happening about now, it seemed particularly normal, but that was beside the point! I mean, I wanted to be healed, but did I want it this much??

"No."

"Why not Axel!?" That was Roxas. My blood boiled and I looked away from him furiously, wincing as my ribs bit at me. No way was I going to go through this. Sure, if Sora could heal me, excellent, but did he really have to go this far?? Why did I even have to end up breaking my freaking ribs anyway! I was fuming, and I missed what was said. Someone placed their hand on my shoulder to regain my attention.

"Axel, I can't heal you any way other than this. It's going to be a bit awkward..." Sora trailed off, going darker than his usual complexion. Obviously he was embarrassed about this too... but it couldn't be as bad as he was letting on. I mean, he kept going on about this Riku guy, so he clearly had the same personal preference as me... but that wasn't the point, dammit! I was not going to do anything with Roxas's brother. No way.

"No." I shook my head insistently. I would have stood and run and hid someplace dark, but being in the current state I was, I couldn't move from the floor. Demyx and Zexion both rolled their eyes in unison. "We won't watch..." Demyx sighed, waving a hand and tugging Zexion away as they both left. I shot fiery daggers after them. Not literally, although I wanted to...

Suddenly, Sora growled in frustration. "I can't stand the way you're being such a coward! And besides, it won't kill you! It's only a kiss!" I stared at Sora, not daring to look at Roxas. No way did I want him to see the look in my eyes. I knew it in my head. I didn't want it to be Sora I was going to make out with. I wanted it to be Roxas. I gritted my teeth. I couldn't kiss the brother of the guy that I loved! Wait, I didn't love Roxas! I swear, I don't love him. I shook my head to clear it.

"Axel... you should do it." My eyes flicked up to Roxas; he wore a blank expression. I blinked and looked back at Sora slowly.

"Oh, screw this!" Sora, obviously frustrated to no end by my constant refusal, pounced at me with a furious burn in his blue eyes. Blue eyes that were almost identical to Roxas's eyes. Before I knew it, Sora's lips had connected with mine, and with the image of Roxas in my mind, suddenly I didn't mind so much. My eyes closed, I let Sora lead, kissing me hotly. His lips moved in sync with mine.

"Whoa! Awkward!" Demyx squealed. If I hadn't recognised his voice, I would've thought he was a young girl.

Suddenly, a nauseating feeling washed over me as I pondered what had just happened; Sora and I jumped away from each other as quickly as we had connected, and surprisingly, my face felt like it was on fire. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, clearing Sora's kiss away, and I looked up at Roxas. Strangely, he looked reserved. Different somehow...

"How do you feel Axel?" I jumped. I'd almost forgotten about Andromeda. She, or he, I corrected mentally, was standing slightly in the shadows off to the left of Roxas. Previously, Andromeda was a girl, but then Ivor had turned up, and she was suddenly a he.

"I feel fine." I wrinkled my brow. I did actually feel okay. Sora must've healed me. It took something more intense than a massage then... I stood up and shook myself slightly, loostening up my tired muscles; they'd become stiff because I hadn't been able to move for a while.

"What are you?" Roxas asked suddenly. My head snapped up to meet his eyes, but he wasn't looking at me. He'd directed his question at Andromeda.

"I'm either," Andromeda said, grinning. Before our eyes, she changed to a male and back again. Miraculously, Andromeda's clothes changed with her/his appearance. "Hmm..." I pondered. Maybe she... I'd call her a girl, instead of both, I decided. After all, when I'd met her she was a girl... could change whatever she was touching as well. Or, in this case, wearing.

Andromeda shrugged. "I'm whoever you prefer. But, I do like the innocent appearance." Andromeda winked and poked her tongue out. "I'll be a girl." I stared at her, wondering what her story was. Why was she here, and why was that wolf guy trying to kill her in the first place? I shuddered at the memory of the freak.

"Let's go then. We can't stay here. Plus, we have to stop this transmission tower thing anyway..." Roxas moved, and I was about to comment on the intelect he'd demostrated when he'd spoken, but then I caught something in his eyes. Something shone in them, and although it was barely there, I noticed it. When he looked at his brother. Jealousy. My heart exploded for a moment then, and I almost stopped walking. Almost.

"You okay Ax?" Demyx. Hey, since when had I aquired a nickname? "It's Axel. I'm fine." With that, we continued walking. I wasn't sure which way, now. All the streets kind of blurred together after a while. My mental map was gone.

_**With Riku, Hope and Ink~**_

"Shut up," Riku sighed, rubbing his head tiredly. His skull was throbbing. Hope had been talking non-stop.

"Maybe there should be a bit of hush." Riku was surprised that Ink had actually spoken. He'd been basically mute since he'd joined Hope and Riku, and Hope had happily made up for the lack of conversation exchange.

"Humph," was Hope's response; Riku glanced at her in time to see her cross her small arms. "Hey, Riku." Ink's baritone voice was low, soft, and Riku turned to face him. "Hm?"

"Maybe we should rest for a while." At Ink's words, Hope pointed enthusiastically to a small abandoned house. The front door stood slightly ajar, and the lawn was a mess. Along with that, there were black tyre marks in the driveway, and there wasn't a car nearby to match the tracks to.

Riku sighed, looking over the house again. "Fine. I don't see why we can't rest there."

"Actually," Hope cut in, "I think we should stay here until tomorrow." Riku stared at her as if she'd just suggested that she would willingly injest a poisonous spider. "What!?" He had something to do. The most important something in his life, and Hope wanted to settle down in an abandoned house??

He had no choice but to say yes, though, because Hope's face was all pouty and Ink was standing firmly by her side. Moments later, they were roaming through the abandoned house, looking for clothing that was decent to wear, as opposed to the dirty rags they were wearing. Although, Hope's dress looked pretty good, considering she'd made that wolf guy run off.

Who was that guy? Riku wondered, tossing around the contents of a drawer. He smiled when he found a good looking dark blue shirt, but his smile quickly fell from his face when his hand found a massive hole in it; okay, it wasn't massive, but it was big enough. He cast it aside.

"Wait," he muttered to himself. Hope. She'd mentioned someone's name to that wolf-guy. It sounded... Greek? Maybe. If only he could remember what it was... it started with an 'A,' he remembered that much. But, why had Hope wanted her dead?

"Andromeda!" Riku blurted unthinkingly, squeezing the shirt in his hands. This time, it was a white shirt, and it looked decent and clean. He decided to ask Hope about this mysterious Andromeda after he'd changed, and he slipped off his old shirt, and was in the midst of pulling on the clean one, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Nice. White suits you." It was Hope. Maybe he was going to talk to her quicker than he expected. He pulled the shirt down over his head and opened his mouth to speak.

"Who's Andromeda? Tell me, Hope." At Riku's words, the young girl froze, but tried to cover it up with a shrug. "Why?"

Riku clenched and unclenched his teeth. Clearly, he'd hit something juicy. Why wasn't Hope telling him straight out? Usually she loved to talk. "You sent Ookami off to kill her. Who is Andromeda?"

Again, the girl squirmed in front of him. He scowled, crossing his arms. "Hope?" It was Ink. He came walking into the room, breaking the tension. Riku cursed under his breath, and Hope turned to the male standing next to her, kissing him quickly on the cheek. Ink's hazel eyes stared at her in confusion, but Hope grinned widely.

"Ink!" Said male stared at her, blinking once. "Have you found the bedrooms? It'll get dark soon." Riku scowled and looked moodily away from the pair.

"Yeah, this way." Ink glanced at Riku before he lead Hope away, but he didn't look intent on following them. "What was that about," he whispered in an undertone. Next to him, Hope huffed.

"He's curious about Andromeda. Speaking of which, he'd better hurry up." Hope crossed her arms and Ink stopped, pointing towards a single bedroom. Hope smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Not that Ink looked at her eyes often anyway. He was aware of what she could do.

Ink scratched his head and ran his fingers through his chocolate brown hair. "Anything else I can do?" Hope grinned at him this time. "Nup. This is perfect for tonight. You can go now."

It was surprising how Ink just obeyed her without question, Riku thought, remembering how Ink had just responded to her every word.

But why? Riku wondered down a hall, pushing doors open one by one. Darkness would be setting in soon, he could see that through the windows of the small house.

"About time..." Riku muttered, wandering over to the bed. Hope and Ink weren't anywhere to be seen, so they were probably already in bed. Or, in Ink's case, he could be standing right next to me, Riku thought uncomfortably, swinging his arms out just for good measure. They swiped through air; Riku let out a breath.

"I'm too paranoid," he muttered to himself, falling onto the bed. It was cold, and Riku shivered. Although, considering what else was going on at present, it was a pretty good find. It wasn't torn or bloody or dirty. The silverette closed his eyes. After a day of walking, he was exhausted, but the good thing was, they were nearly at the tower emitting the signals. Less than a day, Riku thought, an image of Sora appearing in his minds eye. He wondered where that kid was...

_**Back with Axel and the gang~**_

((Axel POV))

"Why don't we stop here for the night?" Andromeda. She'd been silent for the whole day, so when she spoke I jumped slightly

"It _is_ almost dark..." Demyx agreed, squeezing Zexion's hand. I frowned. Why could they touch and whatnot, but whenever it was me, then I immediately felt sick and horrible?

"That house over there looks okay," Andromeda said, pointing. The group muttered and grunted their responses, and I followed on, not really focusing on where I was going, but at the two linked hands of two males in front of me. Their relationship, I concluded. They'd had a relationship before this whole injection thing started. I sighed, looking down at the cracked pavement.

"You okay Axel?" I jumped as Roxas suddenly appeared by my side. "Fine," I mumbled, somewhat miserable. Stupid injections. Stupid life... why did I get myself into these situations? I sighed, frowning.

"Wah!" I jumped a mile as I felt something on my arm. "Sorry." Roxas looked a tad resigned and hurt as he lowered his hand. I put my palm over the spot that he had touched, and watched as he walked ahead of me, shaking my head.

From uncomplicated, living on the streets, I'd gone to unpredictable, roaming around, almost getting killed on a daily basis. And, on top of that... I was feeling things I hadn't felt before. "I'm a mess..." I concluded, quickening my pace to catch up with the group.

**A couple of hours later~**

"So, we're almost there!" Sora chimed randomly. We'd been sitting in silence for over an hour, either occupying ourselves with our own thoughts, looking out windows, or in Zexion and Demyx's case, maybe something else; I grumbled to myself. Why couldn't I be like them? At least partially happy...

"Uh huh..." Roxas sighed. He was sitting by Andromeda, away from me. The blonde girl groaned, standing up. "Where're you going?" I asked, watching her long braid sway as she made her way to the front door of the house. She turned abruptly and stared at me.

"I need some air..." I raised my eyebrow suspiciously. "Do you really want to know?" She said impatiently, implying something that I didn't want to hear.

"Fine, go!" I said, raising my arms innocently, and she disappeared out the door. As she left, Roxas stood. "Axel, up. I need to talk to you." I gave him an I'm-too-lazy-to-move look, and he glared at me.

"Okay, I'm up." I scrambled to my feet unwillingly. Roxas hadn't looked at me very much since he'd touched my arm. I think it was my overreation that caused his silence... a part of me felt guilty. I shook my head and followed the shorter male out the door.

"What?" Roxas spun around at the sound of my voice, and his blue eyes stared right into mine. I fidgeted, uncomfortable. A breeze blew past us, ruffling our hair and clothes.

"I... I think Andromeda is up to something." Whoa. That was the least expected thing I thought he was going to say; a part of me was relieved however, that he didn't mention _us_.

"Why?" I was curious, but confused. "I think she's working for someone. She hardly says anything, she's secretive, and she always seems to be watching our every move." Roxas crossed his arms, frowning at nothing. I scowled. He did have a point.

"But..." Realisation dawned on me. "I just let her go!" I clenched my hands into fists and resisted the urge to kick something. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be back soon, but..." Roxas trailed off, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"But?" I encouraged.

"What do you think she's up to? You know, she has to be plotting something."

"What're you guys talking about?" Roxas and I almost wet ourselves from surprise. Andromeda was standing a few metres away, her face inquisitive, and her arms crossed. Turns out she hadn't run away. She'd gone to the bathroom, just like she'd implied. I smiled uneasily, "Nothing much. We're about to head in and go to sleep."

Andromeda shrugged. "Eh. Okay." She left. Roxas and I stared at each other for a long moment, and we both grinned meekly, dashing back inside.

_**Past midnight - with two certain individuals, closer than you may think~**_

The dark haired girl crossed her arms impatiently. What the hell could be taking him so long? The street was pitch black, and a soft breeze blew, ruffling the girl's dark hair, but she didn't pay any attention. She continued to glare into the blackness, waiting for the individual that had promised to come on this night.

"Sorry I'm late." The male that the girl was waiting for approached from behind, and the girl swung around. "What took you so long!" It wasn't really a question, but it was answered anyway.

"Do you know how long it takes for them to get to sleep? And on top of that, I think two of them already suspect something. They were awake the longest."

The girl inhaled sharply. "Were they definitely asleep when you left?" The male sighed, rolling his eyes, although his companion couldn't see it.

"Hope, you're too cautious. That's why you don't use anything but your ability to kill. The fun is in the throttling." The male grinned in the darkness, and Hope scowled.

"What news do you have?" Hope asked firmly, ignoring the past comments. The male sighed, crossing his arms out of boredom.

"Just what we already know, I guess. Kill someone with an ability, the ability becomes yours, as long as you stay and wait for the person to die." The male rubbed his eyes and yawned; he was tired. He was always the last one to fall asleep, in case Hope decided to contact him mentally and call him out, after all, they were cousins. They did have a blood bond. That's why Hope could communicate easier with him, than with anyone else she'd tried.

"Andromeda, I don't care for information I already know. Is there anything about the group? Any new abilities?" The blonde male shrugged in the darkness, but Hope couldn't see the action. He spoke.

"Everyone has an ability, except one kid. Fire, ice, heal... oh, and that one guy can create illusions. The end." Hope nodded in the darkness, frowning.

"Well, this meeting was pretty pointless. I'll see you in a few hours, in the top room of the tower. We'll take the abilities then." Hope sighed, rubbing at her eyes. It was late, and although she could easily talk about killing someone, she was still a fourteen year old girl, and the late nights had made her exhausted.

"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow then." Andromeda was about to leave, but Hope called him back again. "What about Ivor? Did you kill him?"

Andromeda grimaced. He'd wanted to kill the creep, but he didn't want to appear savage to the group. They were all such wusses... "No. He was unconscious when we left him at that store."

"What if he comes back?" Hope asked, causing Andromeda to stiffen. The male didn't really want to fight that creep again. If they fought a second time, the group would all witness him killing someone. He'd been told to gather their trust. How could he do that if they saw him kill someone?

"You can seek him, can't you? Why don't you do what you always do? Just make his brain explode..." Andromeda shrugged, turning again to walk away. He was glad it was dark, otherwise Hope could've got to him with her creepy ability. Well, he guessed Hope could kill him anyway, because of the bond they shared... although he didn't think she would. He shuddered. She could be rutheless when she wanted to be.

"Maybe I will..." She trailed off, but then picked up again, speaking about something entirely different. "Anyway, make sure you're there on time. I don't want to be waiting for you all day. Remember, right at the top of the tower." With that, Hope walked away, leaving Andromeda behind her.

The male crossed his arms. He couldn't say he exactly liked his cousin. He was only going along with her because she would kill him otherwise... he just didn't like the idea of killing the group of people he was travelling with.

Andromeda sighed heavily, uncrossing his arms. If he wanted to be awake for tomorrow, he'd better get back and get some sleep. He took off into the darkness, running as fast as he could. However, he reached the small house fairly quickly. They weren't as far away from each other as they thought they were.

Andromeda snuck quietly back into the small house, stepping over the lump of Sora snoring on the floor, and taking his repetitive position in his corner. As he sat down, he let himself turn back into the female form he was constantly in. His charade was working perfectly, until he'd heard Axel and Roxas talking about him outside. Of course, he had to be extra careful now. Not that there was very long for them to live anyway; Andromeda's stomach did a flip. He hated thinking about killing these people.

The blonde chewed on his lip. Why was he feeling this way? Usually he didn't have a problem getting rid of the ones with abilities. Maybe because these are the ones that are sane. They're different to what your cousin thinks of them. A small part of his brain nagged at him, telling him that his decision was wrong, but with a bitter scowl, he ceased the thoughts, and drifted off to sleep.

_**Somewhere left behind~**_

The unconscious man stirred, slowly moving into a sitting position. As soon as he peeled back his lids, allowing himself to see, a blinding pain ripped through his head. He let out a blood curdling scream, falling back to the floor with a thud. The man was still. His heart had stopped. His brain was no longer in one peice inside his head, but torn into many thousands of tiny bits.

Ivor was dead.

_A/N: Heh. Bit of a horrid way to end, huh? lol :P Anyway, I hope I have stirred curiosity in all of you! This chapter has you wondering, eh? Review please!_


	8. Encounters

_A/N: I have finally finished exams! XD Well, I got my results back for my English exam (fast, huh?) and I found out that I made one spelling error. If I hadn't made that mistake, then I would've achieved 100%. I'm so annoyed at myself. Especially since the word I got wrong was 'tries.' I spelled it as 'trys'. LOL XP And I already knew the spelling of that word! Grr. Oh well... I still got an A+ !!_

_Anyway, thanks so so so much to Courtii and PyroTori! You guys rock!! XD_

_I don't wanna be pushy... but could you review please?_

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH, or any of the characters. Hope is Courtii's and Andromeda is PyroTori's. Ink is mine, and so is the plot. :D Oh yeah, and Aphmos is mine too. ^^ lol. Bet you're curious now! XD**

**Chapter 8**

((Axel POV))

"Umph." That was my response to the poor bastard who had to wake me up this morning. So, I didn't want to move. It was their problem now. Moving a tired, grumpy Axel in the morning is hard work. Believe me, I've tried. Getting myself out of bed in the mornings is very difficult manual labour, as Zexion was discovering. He gave up after a few seconds.

"Demyx, can you help me?" Figures he'd ask his boyfriend to help him. If it was Roxas he'd called over, I would've been up and wide awake. Feelings I had for Roxas would've made sure of that. No way did I want that guy touching me where everyone else could see... especially while I was asleep! Well, pretending to be asleep... same difference...

"WAAH!" I yelled, clasping the sopping, freezing patch of wet cloth covering my buttocks. I would kill Demyx. I swear, after we destroy that tower...! He is mine.

"He's awake. We can get going now." Demyx called out to what I guessed to be Sora, Roxas and Andromeda. I walked out to the front of the house miserably, my ass dripping a wet trail behind me as I walked. I dropped my head out of embarrassment as several pairs of eyes fixed themselves on me.

"I'm going to kill that hyperactive, sugar-addicted blonde!" I threatened under my breath. Roxas was the only one who heard my verbal threat, and he grinned at me. I responded by maturely glaring at him; mornings weren't my strong point, okay?

"You could try to dry it out," Roxas said matter-o-factly. I shot him a death glare.

He shrugged. "You know, with your ability being fire or whatever…" He trailed off, and I stared at him for a moment. Figures I'd be intelligent enough to figure that out myself, but as ironic as it was, my intelligence didn't exceed me in the mornings.

"Hm…" I grumbled unhappily, ignoring Sora's smirk as he watched the steam sizzle from my backside. Now I was dry again, I turned and back-handed Demyx, who just happened to come up behind me. He shrieked, and Zexion shot out in front of him, standing all rigid, daring me to strike again.

"Never wake me using that vile substance again," I growled, turning away from the pair in anger. Andromeda shrugged, "Whatever. Let's just get going, okay? We're not that far away now. It's probably less that about a half a days travel."

I ogled at her. We were that close already? Something bubbled up inside me as we began to walk. Insecurity. In actual fact, I'd become quite attached to my fire affinity. I didn't really want to give it up… even if getting hold of the cure made everything go back to normal again… I sighed, my eyes drifting over the group of teens in front of me.

"Hey!" Demyx squealed playfully, dodging Sora's attempt at a play-punch. The two were close friends now. Zexion was watching them both with a grin as he strolled alongside them both.

Roxas was watching his brother carefully, showing a hint of protective instinct in his bright eyes. Andromeda was walking by his side. As my green eyes scanned her, she looked up from her constant gaze on the ground and smiled.

I returned the kind smile, and she looked away abruptly. Hm. I frowned. Something was definitely different with her. I shrugged off the feeling and continued to watch the group. My friends. All my life of being alone and now I had finally found people who'd accepted me. I let a huge smile light my face and I bent my head down, following the group with my eyes on the pavement.

_**With Hope, Ink and Riku~**_

"This is it?" Riku asked in awe. It was nothing like he'd imagined. Instead of the humungous tower he'd expected to disappear into the clouds, it was just a three-story building, laced with windows. It looked like any regular office building. He sighed.

"Well, what'd you expect?" Hope asked, and seeing Riku's face, she grinned teasingly. "You watch too much television."

The two teens made their way up the stairs to the front of the building, Ink bringing up the rear of the small group. Riku was constantly looking behind him to make sure Ink hadn't disappeared; yes, he was paranoid, but the guy could become invisible on will. Of course you'd be paranoid.

"Hey Ink!" Hope spun around, and immediately the chocolate haired teen, was by her side. "Yes?" Riku shuddered. It was almost as if he was a slave to Hope. It seemed as if she had so much power over him…

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, peering at the large, thick glass door behind Hope. With the town the way it was, he'd expected it to be open. Too bad he was wrong.

"I need Ink to open the door," Hope said simply, turning to face the door. It loomed way over her head, but she didn't seem intimidated by its size. "I can open it," Riku muttered in frustration. If she wanted something, all she had to do was ask…

Riku bounded fluidly up the last couple of steps, and Hope and Ink moved aside so he could 'work his magic.' Riku took a careful breath, focusing on his target, and slammed his fist into the door with as much force as he could muster.

"Ta da," Riku mumbled sarcastically, and Hope and Ink stared. The door looked like a giant sponge.

"What the hell did you do?" Ink asked in shock, breaking his usual stoic silence. Riku turned to face him, shrugging.

"Well, sponge cake is better that solid glass, right? Now all we have to do is eat our way in."

The two teens stared at Riku like he was insane, but he shrugged at both of them, and turned to face the sponge cake door. "Okay, I lied. You don't have to eat it. All we have to do is tear the excess away so we can go through."

The three proceeded towards the door, albeit hesitantly, to which Riku snorted. He was the first one to begin tearing at the cake-door. Hope and Ink did their share of tearing too, and all were hot and clammy after putting so much effort into creating a hole large enough for them all to move through.

"Finally…" Hope sighed in exhaustion, wiping the wet droplets from her forehead. Ink did the same, but without the dramatic sigh. After glancing at the pair, Riku turned and ducked through the hole in the sponge cake door.

He heard a muffled cry as Hope called out to him. Obviously she was faking her concern, but Riku didn't know that, and he poked his head out from the hole in the sponge cake door to assure her he wasn't completely gone, when his eyes connected with Hope's green-blue ones.

"Hope, what're you doing!" Riku yelped, his body suddenly freezing. A ball of pain suddenly taking place at the back of his skull. "Sorry Riku." Hope's eyes glinted maliciously, and the last thing Riku saw was the harsh contrast of the blue and green of her eyes, when he felt himself falling. Everything went black.

Hope turned to Ink. "Carry his body, would you?" It wasn't really a question, but Ink nodded anyway, slumping Riku's limp body over his shoulder. "What about the others?" He asked feebly. He wouldn't be able to carry Riku for long. He wasn't exactly light…

"The others are already here," Hope said, somewhat impatiently. "They'll make sure the group tires before they get to the top."

With that, Hope and Ink proceeded through the once glass door, and disappeared into the darkness of the building.

_**Back with Axel, Demyx, Zexion, Roxas, Sora and Andromeda~ (that's a lot to type... jeezus!)**_

((Axel POV))

"Oh yeah? Beat this!" I grinned, thrusting my hand out in front of me. It was something I'd recently practised, and I dearly hoped it would work. The reflection of the flames in my eyes told me I was succeeding.

I grinned triumphantly. The doppelganger of fire mimicked my grin. I dropped my hand to my side after a moment, letting the doppelganger disappear. The eyes of my group were filled with awe. Even Zexion's reflected some genuine amazement; my grin became wider.

"I win."

Demyx deflated. "Fine…" he mumbled. He'd made a watery doppelganger, but it'd deteriorated before he could gain any proper control over it.

"Hey, is that it over there?" I heard the brunette twin ask the blonde. Roxas nodded.

"Huh?" The intensity of my vocabulary made Roxas turn to me and scowl. "That's the tower; the place where the signal can be stopped."

My eyes scanned over the building. Three stories, laced with tinted windows, much like an office building. "Whoa!" Demyx and I screeched at the same time. The door, which would usually be glass, was made up of something yellow…

"Sponge cake!!" Sora sang, dancing over to the large door. Or, what was the door…

"Sora, don't eat it," Andromeda said suddenly. "You don't know what kinds of teens have been here before us. It could be poisoned or something." The short brunette stopped abruptly in his tracks, and waited for the rest of the group to catch up with him.

Andromeda sighed. In reality, he knew that Hope was waiting for them, and it would probably be more humane to die from being poisoned. Something in Andromeda's gut clenched. Why did he feel so differently about the people in this group? They were no different from all the other teens he'd killed with Hope. He bit his tongue to silence himself.

"So…" I drawled. "This is the place then?" My green eyes scanned the great building. Somehow, it was different to what I'd imagined it to be, but that didn't matter. It was the right building, at least.

"Well, we haven't been walking that long now, and it's the middle of the day. Do you want to get going inside?" Andromeda had asked the question. I didn't really understand her... er, his logic. My eyes scanned Andromeda, who had decided to transform himself into a male again. I liked him better as a female. He was too tall and his eyes were much darker when he was a male.

"We're going in," I said easily, striding towards the door. I was a few inches away from the thing that used to be the door, which now appeared to be a giant sponge, and bent slightly to sniff it. My green eyes widened in awe.

"This is real sponge cake," I whispered, mystified. "Well yeah." I jumped at how close Roxas's voice sounded, and when I turned my head, he was virtually inches away from me. I felt an instant rush of warmth flood my face, and I knew I was blushing. That nauseating feeling hit my stomach too, and I looked away hurriedly, standing up to my full height.

"That's weird," Sora stated. Again, my heart jumped. Not in the same way though; this time I jumped in surprise. Sora had appeared at my other side, and was making his way into the large hole that seemed to have been torn from the sponge.

"Be careful." I jumped (again) at the sudden harshness of Andromeda's voice. Of course, his voice was somewhat different now, but still recognisable. I furrowed my brow and shook my head. His... and her, sudden sex changes were so confusing! I ceased the shaking of my head. Could Andromeda even have sex? I mean, who would he, or she, do it with? Males... or females? Which one WAS Andromeda??

Confused, I stared into empty space, trying to provide myself with an answer, when Demyx slapped me on the shoulder. "Axel, we're all going in. I think it'll be dangerous. We'll definitely need your help." Demyx smiled at me before taking his hand off my shoulder, and rushing through the hole in the door. I still couldn't get over the fact that it was made of sponge cake...

"Zexion!" Demyx's scream made my body wrench in worry, and I hurled myself through the door. When I did, I instantly tripped over someone. They let out a surprised shriek. It was a female.

"Axel, we need some light in here!" I didn't have a clue where Roxas was yelling from. Everything was pitch black. Even the light coming in through the hole in the door wasn't enough to keep the seemingly large lobby bright enough to make your way around.

"On it!" I yelled into the darkness, flexing my fingers as I did so. As a result, fire balled in my hand, lighting up the space several metres around me, and revealing someone so disgusting I recoiled.

The creature before me seemed to take the form of a girl, but she seemed anything but. Maybe around the age of fifteen, she bore green, reptilian scales which shimmered, covering ever inch of her skin. The scales were some sort of optical illusion. When she moved, they flashed green, but when she remained still, they appeared translucent.

"Hope sssssaid you would be coming," the girl hissed. My green eyes connected with hers, and I inhaled a sharp breath. Her eyes were abnormal as well... not that it should have surprised me... They were green also, but the pupil was oval-shaped, like a cat's eyes. I frowned. Cat eyes and scales? With that weird combination, what could her power be?

"Who is Hope?" Demyx's voice jumped from the dark, distracting me for a second. A second was enough. I was on the floor. The light which shone from my palms was now gone, snuffed out as I landed hard on my back. I flinched, pulling my legs back reflexively. Something had coiled around them, and it was slowly slithering away. A nasty shudder ran up my spine.

"Axel! Get us some light!" This time it was Zexion who yelled at me. It was surprising to hear him yell. A sarcastic remark, an eyeroll... that was more Zexy-ish. Not a yell.

Stumbling to my feet, I concentrated all the energy I could muster into the air in front of me. Soon enough, a fire began to blaze, and it quickly took the form of myself; like a fiery twin. We both grinned in unison; the room was now completely lit, if a little stuffy.

"Argh! Help!" Sora yelped. I spun to face the spot where he'd yelled from, but Roxas moved quicker than I could blink. Sora, hanging in the air by none other than that snake-girl's long, slippery tongue, was quickly falling to the ground. He landed with a muffled thud, and I just managed to glimpse the furious expression burning on Roxas's face, before he took off again.

"Demyx-" I was going to yell, 'Demyx, hurry up and freeze her!' but someone hit me from behind, and I crumpled to my knees, heaving. Someone else was here with us. And that someone happened to be on the opposing side.

"Zexion... Demyx, are you okay...?" I managed to gasp. I heard muffled yelps and crashes behind me, and when I finally sucked in enough air to stand up straight again, I spotted Zexion's irritated face as he cursed.

"Damn it!"

"What happened?" I asked carefully, taking care not to let my fire double snuff out. Sweat was beading on my forehead now, dripping down my cheeks. It was so much work to keep my ability going for this extent of time. I'd never tried it before...

"Axel, look out!" This time it was Andromeda who called out. I'd almost forgotten his prescence... it seemed as if he'd vanished into the darkness and just ceased existing. I didn't have much time to ponder this, because suddenly darkness was shimmering around me, blocking everything, even my fiery doppelganger, out.

Who faced me was another teenager. His hair was black, but the type of black that appeared unnatural and shimmered bluish in the sunlight. His eyes were dark brown, dark enough to be mistaken as black. Although, saying he had two black eyes would just sound strange...

"You're Axel? I've heard a lot about you. Seems you have some fighting spirit worth noting." His voice did not match his chiseled face. It was high, proud, and maybe even a little feminine, although his appearance didn't seem feminine at all. A black tank top, revealing his muscles and jeans that hung on his hips, revealing the red boxers he was wearing underneath. Just like Andromeda, he wore no shoes.

I snorted. I hated it when people flashed their underwear to you. It just seemed... weird. In every sense of the word. "Who told you about me?" I questioned, circling him. I noted that the blackness seemed to be obeying him. It whirled around us, shielding our little meeting from the other watching eyes. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I hoped the others took care of that snake-girl and helped me with this guy.

Said guy shrugged, continuing his swirling black storm. "Her name is Hope... I'm surprised you don't know her. One of the males travelling with you is her cousin." At this, he grinned, causing my gut to lurch with this sick feeling. I hated him when he'd flung me to the ground, and my hate was growing now. He was nothing but a sick, morphed experiment.

"Andromeda?" I croaked, suddenly feeling tired. If I didn't think I could take him before, I knew I couldn't take him now. The strength I was using to make that fiery doppelganger was draining me of all the energy I possessed. While I was becoming fatigued, he was grinning. The exposed muscles of his arms rippled, and I had a sudden sense to jump away, and put everything and anything between this individual and myself.

"Uh, don't I even get to hear a name?" I asked feebly. Okay, so I was attempting to distract him from killing me. But wouldn't you if you were virtually on your deathbed? It worked though, and he paused, smiling freakishly at me.

"Aphmos," was all he said, and all I could think was, 'Some guy with a lame name like Aphmos, was going to kill me? I don't think so!' And then I lunged. I don't think he was expecting me, because his eyes widened at my sudden attack, and when I collided with him, we both went skidding across the floor; the swirling blackness around the pair of us dying slightly.

"Axel!" Roxas's voice cried in relief, but he saw that I was still struggling, and he cut off the sentence he was about to speak, instead coming to my aid. "Uhn..." Was what Amphos uttered as Roxas kicked him in the ribs. After which, he collapsed, and Demyx encased him in ice. Not enough to kill him, there was still a space for him to breathe, but enough to imprision him.

"Thanks," I huffed tiredly, getting clumsily to my feet. I stumbled, and, seeing that the room was now lit enough, like it should have been during the middle of the day, I let my fire doppelganger sizzle and disappear. I almost collapsed on the ground in a heap, but Roxas caught me before I could fall on my face. I ignored the effect he seemed to have on my pulse, and gritted my teeth, forcing myself to keep my eyes open.

"Roxas," I managed to mutter, "energise me." The short brunette was immediately at my side, and when his hand touched my shoulder, it was as if someone had zapped me to life again. My eyes sprang open, and I focused on everyone staring at me in concern. "Uh..." I said awkwardly, looking over a Zexion.

"Try not to use so much of your energy next time," he said, his voice a monotone, but his eyes full of concern. I smirked. So he did care about me... "Thanks for your worry guys," I mumbled, "But we have to get to the top of this building as quickly as possible. Plus," I added, "I don't really want to be sleeping here."

"That's a wise decision." My eyes flashed over to where Andromeda was standing, and my vision suddenly turned red. "Where were you when we were fighting those _things_?" I growled. I was aware of how the group looked at me as if I'd flicked a switch and was suddenly at the peak of being bipolar, but I ignored them. Maybe I _did_ get some of Ookami's ability when he... died. It was certainly showing now.

"I was finding a door," Andromeda said icily to me. Somehow, I didn't buy it, but the others seemed to. For now, I let Andromeda go, but I kept in mind what Amphos had said, _"One of the males travelling with you is her cousin." _Something told me that he was up to something horribly wrong, and this Hope girl, whoever she was, was at the bottom of it. I just hoped that we'd get to the transmitter thingy, before she could stop us. That seemed to be her intention anyway...

"Erm, Axel?" I realised that Roxas was still helping me stand, and he was grinning sheepishly up at me. Quickly, I looked away from him, hating that nauseating feeling that formed in my stomach, and muttered a 'sorry,' before following Andromeda and the group through a door labelled 'stairs' to the right.

"You shouldn't be that hard on Andromeda," Roxas suddenly whispered. He'd been lingering at the rear with me, watching the group climbing the stairs ahead of him. I frowned.

"We have every right to be hard on him. He's definitely plotting something." I crossed my arms stubbornly, glaring at the blonde male several metres ahead of me. "Oh?" Roxas had raised his eyebrows at me, and I hurriedly looked away. His expressions had a greater effect on me when he was closer.

"What?" I was suddenly suspicious, confused and intrigued all at once.

"Well, if he WAS plotting something, then wouldn't you expect him to be calm about it? Not give anything away?" I nodded. He had a point. "Well, look at him. He's constantly fidgeting and looking around. I'd say he was damn nervous about something."

Sure enough, I took in what Roxas was saying, and I stared at Andromeda for a moment. He was right. I frowned, but uncrossed my arms, letting them dangle by my sides. Roxas could read people better than he let on, it seemed.

"Whoa!" Demyx squeaked, which was followed by an intake of breath from the rest of the group. We'd reached the top of the building, and we'd done it using the emergency exit stairs. The door before us was flung open, and we all piled through it, light flooding our faces and making us all blink rapidly to clear the spotty patches away from our vision.

"Andromeda, congratulations. You made it all the way!" A feminine voice chimed, directly opposite the room. My eyes met the forms of two teenagers. One female, with midnight black hair, wearing a black dress that seemed light and breezy, while the other was a male, dressed in casual wear, standing defensively in front of another teenager who was lying on the floor. He wasn't moving, and from the distance I was at, I couldn't determine whether he was breathing or not.

I felt myself being bumped as someone stumbled clumsily to stand beside me, and looking down I discovered it to be Sora. He was staring brokenly at the male on the floor, and as who the person was clicked in my mind, Sora suddenly began to run forward, and at the top of his lungs he yelled.

"RIKU!"

_A/N: LOL I bet you're annoyed at me for leaving it at a cliffy... but it's almost done now... just a couple more chapters to go. ^^ Heh. Well, I hope this chapter has you asking some questions, like... Is Riku dead? What will Andromeda do? Will any of them die? Will they manage to stop the transmission and cure the 'virus'...?_

_Well, because I'm mean, that shall be determined in the following chapters. Bahahaha! LOL XP Nah, I love you guys. I'm SOOO glad that you're reading my fanfic! Please brighten my day and review! I love to hear your feedback._

_Oh, and again, sorry for the weirdness of the name Aphmos. lol. Although, I do like strange names, so eh. I hope that you liked it too!! xx_


	9. Overwhelming Blackness

_A/N: Oh yeah, I made an error in my previous chapter. Axel said, "Roxas, energise me," when I really meant him to say Sora, coz Roxas can't heal. lol. Sorry for the inconvenience. XP_

_Please review guys. Oh, and thanks to namixasfan and Ldrmas XD You rock for reviewing. ^^_

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters; Hope and Andromeda aren't mine either, but Ink is, along with Amphos and Aria (snake-girl). XD**

**Chapter 9**

_**Previously~**_

_I felt myself being bumped as someone stumbled clumsily to stand beside me, and looking down I discovered it to be Sora. He was staring brokenly at the male on the floor, and as who the person was clicked in my mind, Sora suddenly began to run forward, and at the top of his lungs he yelled._

_"RIKU!"_

_**Now~**_

((Axel POV))

It all happened too fast, and it left me wondering how the hell it actually _had_ happened. Suddenly, Sora had just collapsed, fallen to the floor, and he was inches away from the midnight haired girl. She was staring intently at Sora, and she was grinning. I shuddered.

"Who are you!" Roxas shouted furiously across the room, coming to stand at my side. Although, he didn't dash forward like his brother, and instead he clenched his fists. Both of his hands were white from the pressure that he was using to clench them, and I forced myself to look away from his hands as a trickle of blood appeared, droplets falling gracefully to the floor.

"I'm Hope," the girl smiled, earning a glare from everyone in the group as she waved femininely. She would've appeared cute and innocent had she not just practically killed Sora. He was still breathing, but the congested heap he was lying in told me that he wasn't very happy from the sudden collapse.

"Let my brother go," Roxas snarled, his fists still clenched tightly. I willed myself not to look at the blood droplets falling on and around his shoes. Hope pretended to think for a moment, then looked sourly at us and crossed her arms.

"If all of you surrender, then I'll release your stupid brother." Hope grinned evilly at all of us, and I had a nasty feeling about what was going to happen next. "Be careful," I muttered to the group; in reponse they all shifted and suddenly Andromeda strode forward.

"Hope, stop it." His voice was hard, and I saw one of his fists clench before he shoved his hands into his jeans pocket. The dark haired girl mocked fear as she watched Andromeda come closer, and I heard her growl, "Unless you want your life to be spared, then I suggest you don't do what you're thinking of."

Thinking of? My eyes widened in sudden realisation, but for Demyx and Zexion, it was too late. Andromeda was tossed to the side by the chocolate haired guy standing with Hope, and the girl strode forward. Behind me I heard Demyx and Zexion fall to the floor.

"Don't make eye contact with her!" I said desperately to Roxas. When I glanced at him, I was stunned to find him grinning. "Don't worry. I've got a surprise for Hope." With that, I blinked, and just like a couple of previous times, Roxas vanished from before my eyes.

"What the hell!?" I cursed, twisting to see where he'd gone. I caught sight of him kneeling next to his brother, but no matter how much Roxas heaved, Sora wouldn't get to his feet. He was trapped by Hope and her strange psychic ability. I growled, and Hope came closer. She was barely metres from me now, but I still refused to look into her eyes, focusing instead on her small white nose.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, surprised at the coolness of my voice. I could've easily been asking for directions, but really I was jumpy with nerves and fear of anyone getting injured. Me especially, considering my track record.

"Well, at first it was just a fun game..." Hope mused, flicking some black hair behind her shoulders, "But then we found your group, and we discovered that we could take abilities. I just couldn't resist." I glowered as Hope smirked, poking her tongue out playfully. Even though I'd never really enjoyed hurting people, I so badly wanted to go a round with Hope, just to set things straight; she hadn't finished.

"I set things up perfectly with Andromeda. All he had to do was fake innocence and voila! You took him in. I'm surprised he managed to fool you this long actually."

"Shut up!" I flinched at the sudden loudness of Andromeda's voice, and I scowled in his direction. He was standing at the opposite end of the room, being firmly held by the other teenager with Hope, and he bore an expression of utmost rage.

"I don't care if you can get inside my head! We're through! I don't want to do this anymore, it's wrong." The blonde struggled with the teen that was holding him, and Hope sighed. "Ink, maybe you should just let him go. I can take care of him if I want to."

"Let my brother go!" Before Andromeda could even get anywhere near Hope, Roxas was in front of him, backhanding her so fast it was a blur. I felt a sudden twang of wrongness, seeing a girl get hit like that. It all disappeared when she snarled at him, though.

"Argh!" Roxas moaned painfully, sinking to the floor. Sora let out a muffled cry, but it was barely audible, and no one really payed him any attention. Hope grinned maliciously, staring down at Roxas intently.

"This is enough!" Andromeda yelled, suddenly standing in front of Hope. He picked her up and threw her across the room. She landed heavily on the floor and skidded, smacking into a wall. Behind me, I heard Demyx and Zexion gasp for breath and get to their feet, and I saw Sora slowly stumble into a standing position. Roxas was momentarily freed as well, and he dashed to his brother's side.

"Uhn..." Hope grumbled, trying to get back to her feet. She was rubbing her temples, and the teen known as Ink seemed to materialise at her side, and was supporting her, stopping her from falling over.

"Get Riku..." I heard Sora mumble to his brother. I saw Roxas hesitate, and I cast my eyes over the figure lying on the floor. I still couldn't determine if he was breathing, but Roxas would discover that soon enough.

"Er..." You could see the struggle on Roxas's face, but Sora yelled painfully; he was hugging his arms to himself, and he had his eyes squeezed shut. He'd been under Hope's curse the longest. It seemed to effect him more than it did anyone else.

"Get him!"

Roxas disappeared before I could even blink, and my brain finally registered that he could super speed. I watched him appear by Sora's side rather jealously. It was an awesome ability, but he'd kept it to himself for all this time... I frowned, remembering back to when we were all in the store, and he'd virtually disappeared to find his brother. It was almost ironically like a cartoon character's disappearance, except that he hadn't left a smoky image of himself before he'd disappeared.

**(A/N: If you know what i'm talking about with a cartoon character speeding away, and they leave this image of themselves behind, and it goes all whispy and fades away like smoke, then you rock. ^^ lol)**

"You're not going to escape," Hope suddenly said. I spun to face the small girl, still carefully looking at her petite nose rather than into those dangerous eyes. "We don't really see the point of escaping, actually. We came to destroy this place, so that's what we're going to do," I said evenly. This made Hope's face contort with anger.

"Ink, kill them now! I'll let Amphos and Aria know to come up here too!" She snarled, and suddenly I was hurled forwards. I landed awkwardly on the carpeted floor of the modern room, and I rolled onto my side, trying to see where my attacker was coming from; I saw nothing, except the image of Sora healing Riku, and the silver haired boy sitting up with a large grin present on his face.

"Nyah!" I groaned, clutching at my ribs. I didn't know who'd kicked me, but it wasn't a pretty feeling. A sense of deja vu hit me, but I managed to ignore it, and focus on the group of people around me. Everyone was there except the male known as Ink. I groaned. Trust me to invite the sneakiest person in the group to attack me. I grunted again as I was kicked in the stomach; now I was gasping for air.

"Why aren't Amphos and Aria coming!?" Hope screeched. I heard Demyx chuckle bitterly from somewhere over to my left. "Your welcoming committee was frozen in the foyer," he said, sounding very unlike himself. I would've shuddered from this new, serious Demyx but I was in too much pain to do much other than gasp like a goldfish.

"Ink! Show yourself, you coward!" A voice I didn't recognise yelled to seemingly no one. I twisted my head to see who had yelled, and I discovered it to be that silverette, Riku. He looked healthy (thanks to Sora) and was on his feet, staring around the empty space of the room, trying, no doubt, to distinguish where Ink was.

Finally managing to get my breath back, I tried to get to my feet, trying my best to ignore the biting pain from my torso. Looks like I'd done my ribs again. "Riku, look out behind you!" I yelled through clenched teeth. Ink had materialised out of thin air, and he was about to land a blow to Riku's head.

"Ugh!" Ink was the one who yelped as he went plummeting to the floor. Riku had managed to knock him off balance before Ink landed the blow to his head. "I've got him," I heard Demyx call out, and I watched as Ink slowly became immobile, thanks to the ice encasing his legs. He couldn't move.

"ARGH!" Andromeda's yell made everyone jump, and my gaze came to rest on the blonde. He was clasping his temples, and Hope was grinning at him, showing her teeth. Her arms were outstretched, and she seemed to be focusing hard on the struggling male in front of her.

"If I can't kill you, then I'll kill someone you've grown to like," Hope growled at all of us.

"He's your cousin!" I yelled without thinking. Distracted, Hope turned to face me, and this time I got a glimpse of her eyes. I shuddered at the burning hate in them, but I was lucky that she was too focused on the struggling Andromeda, otherwise I would've been trapped like the others had been before.

"He's no cousin of mine." For a moment, Hope sounded like the innocent fourteen year old she was meant to be, but quickly her features clouded over, and she refocused on Andromeda, who was now writhing on the floor in agony.

"Sora, I have an idea! Are you strong enough!?" I had to yell over Andromeda's cries, and I tried to tune him out. He wasn't making the situation any easier... "What're you planning Axel?" Sora called back.

I managed a glance, but the movement made me flinch and inhale a sharp breath. My ribs were most certainly broken again, but the pain wasn't as intense as last time. Maybe it wasn't as bad?

"Get a shield up! Cover everyone except me. Do it!" I yelled, seeing Sora's bewildered expression. I made eye contact with Roxas, and I momentarily froze. His blue eyes were hard, filled with confusion and pain. He knew I was about to commit something drastic.

"Axel-"

"DO IT!" Ignoring Roxas, I yelled at Sora, who flinched and raised his arms in the air. Demyx, Zexion, Riku, Roxas, Andromeda, and even Ink, let out sudden gasps. Although, they weren't gasps of pain (in Andromeda's state, though, it was hard to tell...) and one after another, an expression of peace seemed to overwhelm them.

"They're covered!" Sora yelled, sounding hesitant and scared. I directed my gaze at him and nodded once, my eyes quickly casting over Roxas. His body told me he was feeling peaceful, thanks to Sora's influence, but his eyes told me something else. Concern, worry, fear... and something else I couldn't quite place; I looked away quickly.

"Hey Hope!" I screamed. The midnight haired girl spun to face me, letting the hold she had over Andromeda fall. He let out a shuddering breath, and pulled himself into a tight ball, as if trying to hold himself together.

This time, I didn't bother looking at Hope. All I desired was her attention, and now that I had it, I grinned, clenching my fists by my sides and squeezing my eyes shut. I summoned all the kinetic energy I could, letting it swirl around me.

"What're you doing!?" Hope screeched, and my eyes sprung open. She was on her knees, and the expression on her face was not one of a lunatic, but one of a terrified, fourteen year old girl.

"Sora, Hope!" I called, hoping that the short brunette would understand. Luckily, he did, and I saw a faint green light swirl around Hope, and her eyes widened considerably. "Axel!" Roxas called desperately, and I shot him a quick look, hoping he would understand to stay where he was; it worked, he didn't move.

Now all the cruelty and yelling had ceased, I was able to focus more greatly on the kinetic energy swirling around me. I sent it to every corner of this building, having one intention only. To destroy this wretched place before it could cause any more horrible events to settle in the lives of those I now loved. Demyx, Zexion, Riku, Sora and Roxas. All gave me inner strength, and I grasped at it, sending all of my energy into this disgusting place.

"Uhn..." I groaned painfully, collapsing to my knees. My head felt like it was on fire, but in contrast, the rest of my body felt numb. I couldn't feel a thing, not even the horrible piercing sensation my ribs liked to grace me with. The only thing I had to focus on was the burning encased in my head.

"Axel!" Roxas's voice sounded distant, muffled, and what followed his call were many coughs and crashes. I heard someone stumbling to their feet, my guess would be Ink, as he wouldn't be encased in ice any longer. My kinetic blast would've melted it away.

"What the hell...? What am I doing HERE? Who're you!?" It was definitely Ink. I heard him stumbling around, coughing from the smoke that was now thick in the air. I was right about him... Hope'd had a weird control over him. He couldn't remember anything.

"We need to get out of here!" Demyx yelled at the top of his lungs. I heard scrambling of feet, and the crackling of the building as the fire ate away it's very being. I managed to peel my eyes open, and the sight that met my eyes were several males charging towards me, their faces blackened with soot and smoke. Andromeda, Roxas and Sora.

"Axel, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Roxas was shrouded with fear and worry, and as I looked up at him, I managed a small smile. "I can hear you..." I mumbled, surprised when my voice came out as barely a whisper.

"Sora, can you heal him?" Roxas choked, helping Andromeda to lift me. My head screamed burning rage at me, and greyness was eating at my vision. I so badly wanted to sleep. I was so tired...

"I can't... it's gone..." Sora's voice sounded far away, and I had to fight to hear him. Everything was becoming muffled, but when Roxas spoke, his mouth was at my ear. "If I knew you were going to do what you did, I would never have let you so much as try," he whispered. I would've grinned, but I was so tired... Roxas said something else.

"You're going to make it. You can't die. Out of all of us, you deserve to live the most..." I was beaming inside at what he'd said, but the fatigue I was feeling was completely overwhelming, and I said goodbye to everyone mentally, not having enough energy to move my mouth, and shut my eyes.

Blackness encased me.

_A/N: This would've been up sooner, but thanks to my obsession with the ps1 Spyro games, it was delayed... Still, please don't hate me!! -o-" I will have more up, so it's not finished yet, but I'm not going to give away anything._

_Review guys! I've got over 500 hits, but not so many reviews. (although those that have reviewed, you ROCK!!) Thank you! ^^_


	10. Home

_A/N: Heh... I bet you all hate me for what happened to Axel... if you don't then you're starting to... lol XP Okay, before you decide to throw pointy objects at me, then please enjoy this chapter. ^^ _

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts, or the characters... Andromeda and Hope aren't mine, but Ink is. And I am proud to say that this plot is mine too. XD**

**Chapter 10**

That disgusting smell. Well, it wasn't disgusting, but since it was the only thing swirling around the air at present, then it was being focused on, and that made it gross. The smell, it was too clean. THAT was what made it icky and hard to bear. It was too clean, and it was mixed with the scent of sick people. Not nice.

Then, on top of that, there was that constant beeping and whirring. Always the same, always constant, and never, ever missing a beep. It was enough to do anyone's head in. Also, there was some strange lump lying there.

Still, unmoving. Breathing, but not talking. He listened to the beeping too, although he payed it no attention. Day in, day out, he was there. The lump. Head buried in his arms so no one could see his broken face. Every now and then, a nurse would stroll gracefully into the room to ask him if he was okay, and to see if there was any change.

This caused the individual to look up, and when the nurse saw his broken expression, the loss littering his eyes, she knew everything was still the same. It'd been the same for a month and a half. No change. Just the beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"Uhn..."

Immediately, the individual's head shot up, and he was standing over the other male as if nothing else in the world mattered. "Axel?" He said, his voice wobbly, his blue eyes on the brink of spilling tears.

"Hnm..." Again, the red head stirred, wincing as he felt movement in his lower body. He was sore, and the pain began to eat at him. "Nurse!" The blonde yelled, trying to get someone's attention. He dashed out into the corridor, furiously clearing the tears that had spilled over his cheeks with his sleeve. He was alive. He was safe.

"Roxas?" He could speak. Roxas spun to face the red haired teen lying in the white, clean hospital bed, unsure whether he should smile or cry. "Axel!" He grinned. A large, happy smile that spread across his face, lighting his eyes so they shone bright, crystal blue.

"What's goin' on...?" A disorientated Axel tried to sit up, but grimaced and exhaled sharply before deciding that it was a bad idea. "You..." Roxas was now suddenly unsure how to explain. He barely remembered it himself. It was like his memory was a thick book, and someone had torn an important page out, leaving him with the before and after events, but nothing in between.

"Uh..." The blonde wrinkled his brow, his eyes clouding over, when he saw Axel smirk. "What?" He asked, suddenly confused.

"You," Axel sighed. "Even when we're in danger, all the emotion that ever shows is in your eyes." He sighed again, and suddenly felt wave of fatigue pass over him. Closing his eyes, he let out a calm breath.

"Oh... well, maybe..." Roxas mumbled. He'd wanted so desperately for Axel to wake up... and now that he was awake, he couldn't even speak a proper, coherent sentence. What could he say? Things have changed? Tell him about everyone else? Even...? Roxas shook his head, feeling confused about everything but certain about something else.

"Axel? You still awake?" The blonde muttered, his heart humming loudly in his chest. He was surprised Axel couldn't hear it.

((Axel POV))

Confusion was swirling around like an intense thunderstorm in my head. A second ago I was destroying that building, with Roxas, Sora and Andromeda at my side, carrying me out, and now I was here...? In a hospital bed, with clean, crisp sheets? What the hell was going on? Had I missed something...??

"Hmm??" At the sound of Roxas's voice calling my name, I opened my eyes tiredly, nodding my answer. I noticed that he'd edged closer to the bed, and was now standing over me. Since he wasn't very tall in the first place, he was only just barely able to stand over me and cast a small shadow.

"How're ya feelin'?" I asked, mumbling slightly; my voice reflecting my tiredness. I saw Roxas twitch slightly, and he leaned over me. "There's... something I need to tell you..." He mumbled, colour brightening his cheeks. I noted these changes in his appearance, and my eyes widened slightly, my heart beating a fast rhythem in my chest.

"Can I help you two gentleman?" A feminine voice broke through our awkward moment, and my pulse suddenly calmed at the presence of someone else in the room. "Ah, I see you're finally awake!" The brunette nurse smiled, showing her set of straight pearly whites. Awkwardly, I smiled back, when a sudden thought hit me.

"Finally I'm awake? What do you mean?" Out of confusion, I frowned, and next to me Roxas sighed heavily, looking fatigued and stressed. At this close proximity I noticed the dark shadows under his eyes. How long HAD I been asleep??

"Sir, you've been asleep for approximately six weeks. Over a month," the nurse said gently, coming to check the beeping and whirring machines. I glared at the annoying heart moniter, and I noted the clear liquid hanging from a drip. When the nurse accidentally bumped it, making the drip sway slightly, I felt a faint pull in my arm. I winced. Needles were the things that got me into this mess...

"Could we have some time, please?" Roxas mumbled, somewhat in embarrassment. Clearly, the nurse had walked in on something. Even I could see that, and I'd been passed out for six weeks. She shot Roxas a small polite smile, and exited the room, saying something about notifying a cloud that I was awake? Maybe it was the morphine helping to soothe the bite in my ribs...

"Cloud?" I asked in confusion, hoping I'd heard the nurse wrong. Beside me, Roxas fidgeted, choosing to stare at the heart monitor standing next to the bed, than at me. I frowned, waiting for his answer. Eventually, he drew a breath, and still not looking at me, he spoke.

"He's my guardian. So's Leon." Roxas sighed, looking like he was about to fall on his face, just because he needed to sleep so badly. "There's so much I have to tell you..." He muttered, making my green eyes fix themselves on him.

"Tell me then," I demanded, in a voice that wasn't as strong as I thought it'd be. It seemed I was tired too. Although I couldn't place the reason as to why... I'd been asleep for over a month, according to the nurse.

"Not now," Roxas sighed, finally turning his gaze to stare at me. There was something in his eyes that blazed, making them vibrant and rich with colour. I looked away hurriedly, feeling suddenly fidgety and slightly... embarrassed? Maybe... probably...

"Look, the nurses said they'd have to keep you in for a week after you woke up, so I promise I'll fill you in on everything when you get out of here." Roxas shot me a small, tired smile, rubbed his blue eyes, which still bore those dark shadows, and stood up, moving to the door so he could exit and leave me in peace. My heart jumped suddenly then, causing the monitor to beep loudly. Roxas turned swiftly towards me, his eyes wide.

"What-! Oh... what's the matter?" He asked, covering his mouth as it opened in a wide yawn. Seething, I shot an angry glare at the heart monitor. I hated it when people could see into me. See my emotions. I only ever showed the emotions I wanted people to see, but this evil machine liked to announce every change in my mood. Or, at least my heart... I frowned and huffed, trying to think up an un-embarrassing answer for Roxas.

"Uh..." Was my coherent response, and it caused the blonde standing slouched over in the doorway to smirk. "You want me to stay?" He asked, his eyes shining with an emotion that I recognised. Longing. My heart did another jump, as did the monitor.

"I take that as a yes?" He said partially hesitantly, walking slowly back to the white hospital bed that was holding me prisioner. I was about to nod and smile, when suddenly the brunette nurse strode back into the room, and with her a sense of importance. Roxas and I stared at her for a moment before she spoke.

"I trust you're finally leaving now? You've been here every day since-" Her kind, soft voice was cut off.

"I'm staying," Roxas said firmly, glancing at me before staring strongly at the nurse. Her face broke into a gentle smile. "Honey, I know he means a lot to you, but I need to go over some routine checks with him, and he also needs to rest for a while. You can visit again tomorrow."

The heart monitor sped up and I blushed a deep crimson from the confused expression the nurse graced me with. I ignored Roxas for the moment; he'd only make my current situation worse. After all, what the nurse had said was enough to confirm that he DID care about me. 'You've been here every day' is what I'd call caring. I redirected my gaze to my toes, which made lumps in the white covers under my bedclothes, and wiggled them, just to distract myself.

"See you Roxas..." I mumbled into the blankets as he departed, and the nurse giggled. "You two are so cute." I looked up to see her beaming, and I looked away, scowling. The monitor next to me beeped furiously as images spun through my mind, and I had an intense desire to crush it; although it might not be the best idea... I clenched my teeth and listened to the pointless rambling of the nurse instead.

It turned out that the nurse's name was Belinda, and she was a single mother with two children. One hers, the other adopted. I smiled when she'd said adopted, and this made her ask me why. When I said that I was an orphan, her chocolate eyes shone with tears, but she was a strong woman, and she held them back. I explained that I'd practically found a home anyway, what with Demyx and Zexion, and if it hadn't been for those injections- I stopped abruptly, leaving Belinda staring at me curiously.

"What is it honey?" She asked gently, and when I looked up at her, she was clutching a clipboard, her face full of concern. I chewed on my lip before deciding to humour her.

"What did... I mean, what happened when all the teenagers..." I couldn't properly voice my question, but Belinda seemed to understand anyway. She spoke with chagrin, and this time a tear managed to slide down her cheek.

"Many were killed. We were lucky it was only this town, you know," she said, sighing heavily. She'd finished her analysis on the machines beeping and whirring around me, and was standing beside me clutching her clipboard.

"The staff here at the hospital... we were always in danger. All these teenagers would barge in of their own free will and demand to be treated. Sometimes they became so angry I was almost killed...!" Belinda said, her voice sounding slightly shaky. I gave her a sympathetic look, and she smiled sadly at me.

"You and your friends were lucky. You were strong enough to defend yourselves. Most of the people living here either died or fled. Population is slowly climbing back to what it was, though." Belinda flicked some of her dark hair behind her ear and smiled. The blank expression occupying my face was just a charade to make it seem like I was calm, so Belinda would continue, but inside I was raging.

Lucky. If we had've delayed destroying that tower any longer, then heaps more people would've died. And what if we hadn't known about the tower? A sick feeling made my stomach lurch. We might have even died. Those teens with powerful abilities... they would've passed through other towns, reaching larger populations. And they _liked_ to kill. I shuddered as I imagined all the carnage, making myself snap back to reality.

"Well Axel, I think I have you to thank," Belinda smiled warmly. My face formed a quizzical expression, and the brunette before me laughed lightly. "If it wasn't for your heroics, the town wouldn't have been able to flourish again."

With one last warm smile, and a 'bye hun,' Belinda was out the door and had disappeared down the corridor smelling of disinfectant, soap and sick people. I dropped my green eyes to the floor, trying to think of sleep. I ignored the hot tear that fell from my closed eye as I drifted off into that peaceful blackness. **(A/N: I don't know why I made him cry. I think it finally dawned on him that he was a hero, in a way, and he was crying in realisation...)**

The following week was horribly snore worthy. I mean, aside from the literal sense. I was having a lot of sleep, because my body did need to heal, but apart from sleep, which one could only take part in at certain times, for example, if one became tired, there was nothing else to take part in. I passed the time by counting sheep, which is insanely ironic, and something I shall never do again because it is extrememly BORING and unlike everybody says, it does NOT make you sleepy, and looking forward to my brief encounters with Roxas and his older brother Cloud.

Both of them did look familiar, and Roxas reminded me that if I told him they resembled each other in even the tiniest fashion, then he would gladly make his fist meet my nose. Although I didn't see anything wrong with having an older brother that was still ALIVE; my stomach did a mass of saddened flops at this thought; but I guessed it was different between the two of them than it was for Reno and me.

For starters, they were blondes, and I was a red head, but that was a minor detail. Roxas had Sora, but I'd only had Reno. No one else. That made my brain buzz. Where was Sora? Come to think of it, no one except Roxas and Cloud had come to visit me. Even this other guardian named Leon that Roxas had sometimes mentioned hadn't come to visit.

The question of where everyone else was, and why the hell they hadn't come to visit me now that I was awake, was a constant question that buzzed ruthelessly around in my head. However, when I voiced my concerns to Roxas, he smiled, and told me that everyone was okay, and I shouldn't worry about them. Only, this made me worry more, and so the day I was finally able to leave this dumb, smelly hospital behind me, I was constantly aggitating Roxas and Cloud, informing them that I had to know the details about everyone.

"Axel," Cloud finally said. From the back seat of his car, I shut my mouth obediently. Something about the guy made me NOT want to disobey him. In the front passenger seat, Roxas shot a smirk at me, and I crossed my arms, deciding not to say anything cutting and stupid. Roxas's family had been so generous to me. I didn't want to throw it back in their faces. After all, they'd payed for the hospital visit (which, let me tell you, was not cheap!) and they were offering me board and they'd also taken the liberty of buying me some clothes.

I smirked down at myself. Roxas had good taste. Black sneakers, which were a given. I wouldn't be able to live if I hadn't any black sneakers. Jeans that were dark, patchy in some parts, but they suited me anyhow, with a sliver belt buckle hanging over my middle, and lastly the top and gloves. Gloves, fingerless, and black, of course, and the shirt was simple in itself. It was a plain black tee which fitted me nicely, and there was a large white, grinning skull splayed over my chest.

Over the soft hum of the music playing in Cloud's car, I heard Roxas say, "We're here," and seconds later I was staring at a large house, double story, which looked large enough to accomodate around twenty people.

"What do you think?" Roxas grinned, elbowing me. I winced, and his expression turned to one identifying realisation and horror.

"Sorry Ax..." He mumbled. I frowned, rubbing my bruised ribs which were now tingling slightly. I hated nicknames. My name was mine, and no one else could change it.

"Axel," I nodded grimly, following Cloud up the front steps. The older blonde hadn't talked much during our encounters, and it seemed as if he had no emotion lurking behind that blank face at all. However, once I reached the top of the steps, he graced me with a small smile.

"Turn around," he said smoothly, and I shot him a quizzical look. What the hell was he-? Oh. Cloud pulled out a small piece of silky material from his jeans pocket. A blindfold. Why in the hell would I need one of those. I sighed, deciding to see what fate had in store for me, after all, it couldn't be worse than what I had gone through already... and I spun around. Cloud slipped the blindfold over my eyes, and my vision was cloaked in blackness.

I heard the faint grinding of metal as the key turned in the lock, and then the creak as the wooden door swung open. Someone made their way inside; I assumed it was Cloud, and I went to follow him but stumbled.

"Uh...!" I scrambled around blindly, hoping someone would help me through the door, and a soft laugh met my ears.

"Stop floundering!" Roxas laughed, and I immediately became stoic and still. That was, until I felt Roxas entwine his warm fingers with mine and tugged me through the doorway. I let out a barely audible squeak as I made my entry, and I was sure Roxas heard me.

My heart palpitated strongly in my chest as I anticipated what was coming next. But, I needn't have worried. It wasn't as bad as I had first thought. Roxas whipped the blindfold from my eyes, and I was overwhelmed with colour and movement. Demyx, Zexion, Andromeda, Riku, Sora, Ink, even Hope (my eyes were as big as tennis balls at this point) and a male brunette that I didn't recognise were all standing around the room, smiling and eating food.

"What...!?" I was virtually lost for words, and attractively gaping like a goldfish until Roxas came to my rescue. "It's a welcome party... sorta." I glanced over at him, and he grinned sheepishly.

"What do you mean, sorta?" I asked, confused for a moment. I was slightly offended when Roxas gave me a this-should-be-obvious look, but I was glad he explained the current situation to me anyway.

"Well, we figured," he gestured to himself, Cloud and that other strange brunette when he said 'we,' "that you'd be living with us now. Y'know..." Roxas trailed off, and looked up at me, his blue eyes piercing through my green ones. It took me a moment for the information to sink in. I had a home. With people that cared about me. My face cracked slowly into a grin, and I suddenly realised that Roxas's fingers were still entwined with mine; I didn't voice the matter though.

"I'm allowed to live here?" I asked incredulously, my eyes burning with happiness. Roxas grinned back at me, but he wasn't the one to speak. The brunette standing over the opposite side of the room addressed me in a smooth, cool manner.

"Of course, it won't be for free," he said, and my eyes connected with his, my hands clenching invoulentarily. Roxas gave my hand a tight squeeze in return, and I managed to resist jumping in surprise.

I was about to say that I hadn't gone to school, so I had no available education, but the brunette cut off my sentence as it hung loosely in the air between us. "You'll be helping teach self defense and martial arts to my students, starting next week."

I sighed in relief. "But," I said hesitantly, "I don't really have much experience-"

"Not from what I hear. All these guys have to tell me is that you saved them countless times." The brunette grinned, and I smiled awkwardly in return.

"Well, now that's over with, let's get to the food!" My eyes fixed themselves on the dark haired girl who sang merrily, stuffing a muffin into her mouth. Hope. I took an unconscious step backwards, my face hardening. What the hell was she doing here?

"Hope, you could've been more subtle..." Andromeda muttered from behind me. I was shocked to see that he was decked out in a maid's uniform, but not the cliche black and white skimpy-ish dress. More masculine.

"Okay!" I said firmly, feeling everyone's eyes on me due to my sudden loudness. "I think you people should tell Axel a little about what's going on," I said, sinking down into the nearest cushiony object, which happened to be a couch. Roxas followed me (by now I'd let go of my hand; I could feel all the expressions of surprise as people were starting to stare at us...) and plopped himself down beside my slumped form.

"We don't actually remember that much," Zexion spoke for the first time.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously. I thought it would only be me who'd had memory loss, due to the slight incident of my passing out for several long weeks...

"Nup. My memory's black," Demyx chimed in, and before anybody else could pipe up and voice their lack of memory, I decided to break it down for them. "Does anyone actually remember what happened? Or maybe you could tell me why Hope," I shot her a glance, "happens to be hanging around."

"That'd be because of me." There were MORE people!? My eyes darted to the now filled doorway, which held a strong, kind looking dark haired woman. She smiled at me as she spoke. "My name's Tifa. That stoic guy over there in the corner is Leon, and Hope is here because I'm her psychiatrist."

My eyes bulged. Psychiatrist!? Hope didn't need a psych evaluation, she needed a mental hospital. This was the girl who thought it'd be fun to try and kill me and all my friends (which were now virtually my family) because she thought it would be 'fun'. I scowled, crossing my arms.

"I have two personalities," Hope said rather brightly, considering it was her conscience we were talking about. My face must've softened, because the people surrounding me seemed to relax; I thought about it. Hope having a split personality made sense... but what about when she'd been injected with the serum? Maybe it had merged the two personalities together, and had some sort of tragic side effects? I did a mental shrug. Either way, she seemed fine now...

"Wait a minute, why're you dressed like a maid?" I fired my question at Andromeda, who was standing discretely in a corner, holding a mop and leaning on it slightly.

"Took you a moment to catch on," he joked. I frowned. "I'm working for Cloud and Leon. I don't really have anywhere to go. My family isn't exactly friendly when it comes to the prospect of taking care of me," Andromeda snorted unattractively, "and Hope's in the same situation as I am. But, she really needs Tifa, who lives here too, so I guess it all works out." He smiled, readjusting the mop so it was leaning against the nearby wall.

I nodded, shifting my gaze to the floor. My head was buzzing from everything happening around me, and to top it all off, everyone was chatting and eating food. I decided to sum everything up, just to be sure... Okay, I thought, Cloud and Leon own this huge house, which they live in, along with Sora, Roxas, Tifa, Hope, Andromeda, Riku... well, I assumed Riku lived here... and myself. Maybe I should check.

"Hey Roxas," I asked, "Does Riku live here too?" The blonde was slow in the uptake of his response, but he got there eventually.

"Nope. He lives with his mum, just a couple of blocks away..." Roxas succumbed to the dazed, tired look he was supporting just seconds ago, and I sighed, looking away from the sleep deprived teen. Okay then, Riku wasn't living with me...

My eyes rose to the people conversing just a metre away, when I saw someone walk passed. He disappeared again amoung the group of talkative people, but I got a glance of his chocolate hair. It was Ink. I frowned. So, Ink was living here too?? I was so confused...

"Oi, Roxas," I had to nudge the teen and his eyes jerked open. "I'm still here," he mumbled sleepily. I grinned, "Can you show me to my room?" I asked, just wanting to get away from all the madness of loud chatter and colour and movement. Roxas nodded, standing up slowly and stretching.

"You're sharing a room with me," he said as we walked slowly to the door leading to what I presumed to be stairs. "Why's that?" I asked, astonished. Didn't Roxas share a room with Sora? Judging by how protective he was of Sora, it was strange to hear that he suddenly had his own room.

"Sora's moving in with Riku and Riku's mum. I can guess why," he turned and wiggled his eyebrows at me, and my stomach lurched, but I grinned at the same time. I'd not seen Roxas act like that before, it intrigued me... but, I hoped he wouldn't react poorly when he found out that I actually liked-

"Here it is," the short blonde said, pushing the door open for me. My eyes widened. I'd never had a proper bedroom before. True, I did have a proper house when I was in my younger years, but this was completely different to the pile of trash that was my old, childhood room. The beds looked clean and comfortable (never again will I look at comfy beds the same again; I shall treasure them, the hospital bed sucked), the walls bore posters of many glamorous looking people that I didn't recognise, but to top it off, there was a television, a DVD player, and other gadgets that I'd heard of were spread out on the carpeted floor.

"This is...!" I couldn't describe how awesome it was to finally have a decent bedroom, and to be sharing it with someone such as Roxas? I was loving it.

"Umph..." Roxas sighed heavily, falling onto his bed in a heap. He kicked off his shoes and they landed with a muffled thud on the carpet floor, and crawled up to his pillow, lying on his back facing the ceiling. What the hell. I was tired too. May as well join him...

I dumped my shoes as well, climbing onto my bed and getting in a comfortable position on my back. It was when I was finally lying on that soft bed that my mind clicked on something that seemed to be missing, and my mood switched to instant panic.

"What's up Axel?" I managed not to show surprise as I caught the blonde teen staring at me in confusion; I clasped at my neck, and understanding lit his face.

"It's safe. Here," Roxas smiled, reaching up to the back of his neck and unclasping a chain. I caught the small item as it sailed toward me, and weaved it through my fingers before fastening it safely around my neck.

"Thanks Roxas, for keeping it safe," I murmured, but the soft sound of snoring echoed from his small form, and I knew he was asleep. I sighed, clenching Reno's ring in my right palm, and closing my eyes. It was still warm from Roxas's touch.

_A/N: See!? I'm not a horrible person!! Maybe a little insane... but NOT horrible. I wouldn't ever kill Axel. He's my favourite character in all of Kingdom Hearts! ^^_

_Do you want another chapter? I could end it here... although I want to write a little bit more... and also, do you want more involved AkuRoku-ness? Like... more than talking and holding hands? :D It's doable. XD_

_Oh, but I'm going to Central Australia for a school camp, and I will be away for two weeks, so the next chapter won't very soon, but I can promise that I will write it if yah like. :) (meaning, it will be up sometime in the holidays...)_

_Review please! xo_


	11. Blood and Gore

_A/N: So maybe I updated before I thought I would... I had this Friday off school, coz it's a cirriculum/report writing day, so I did some writing of my own, and ta da! ^^ I managed to pop this out! LOL :P Aren't you lucky? lol. Please review!_

**Disclaimer: No ownage of KH... although, I tremendously wish I did... lol :P Again, Ink is mine along with the plot. Hope and Andromeda, belong to two awesome fellow fanfictioners. lol XD**

**Chapter 11**

((Axel POV))

So it had been a week, and much to my protest, Leon had shoved me into working early. Yes, my ribs still ached, and yep, he knew that. But did he care? No. Maybe he did, but if he did, then he didn't show it.

Leon and Cloud ran their own business. It was a corporation that taught martial arts and self defense to children and teenagers. And, much to my annoyance, basically all the kids could easily kick my butt. Although, most of them knew of my sore ribs, and took advantage, which I thought was totally unfair, but what did they care? They were winning. Most of the time, though, I let them win. I didn't know why. It was a blow to my pride every time I lost.

Maybe it was because Cloud and Leon had given me a home. Of course, I was immensely grateful. I'd been living with them for about a week now, and I had noticed considerable things about each of them. Usually, it depended on the individual, but sometimes I could read their emotions. It was nice to know I had an ability, even if my fire affinity had disappeared. Sometimes, just the thought of it being gone forever depressed me, but living with Roxas and his family filled that hole immensely.

Ah. Roxas. Our relationship was complicated, but the strangest thing was, I think we both understood that each of us was harbouring feelings for the other. I couldn't quite get my head around that. Sometimes though, we'd show that vaunerable side to each other, and hug, talk or just sit closely and watch a movie or some television. This is what confused me. Did he want to take the next step? Or not? I'd never been in a relationship before... this thought scared me.

"Yo, Axel!" I snapped back to reality as the taunting, childish voice whipped at me. The kid danced lightly on the spot, no doubt anticipating my next move. I retained a smirk. His guard was lower than it usually was. I'd let this kid beat me a couple of times, and it seemed to inflate his ego. He'd become cocky.

"Ya ready?" I asked, grounding myself before I attacked. The watching eyes of fellow classmates stared at the pair of us. I, of course, held the advantage. This sandy blonde teen was two years younger than me, and I was also taller than he. But, that didn't seem to bother him as he taunted me to attack. I could see the desire in his eyes to take me down again, and I grinned.

A cocky smile plastered itself on the guy's face, and he nodded. "You won't beat me this time. I've beaten you three-" His voice was cut off when I lunged at him, and, virtually unguarded, he swung a fist out at me in surprise. Ducking, I used the two longest fingers of my right hand, and jabbed them into his ribs. He doubled over from the shock and sudden bite of pain, and that was when I whipped his legs from under him; he went toppling to the floor.

"Awesome!" Some kids called out and whoo'd at me, and I gave a dramatic bow. So, the blow to the ribs wasn't THAT well known... in truth, I hadn't taught it to anyone yet, but that kid was asking for it. I grinned at the people clapping for me. If any of these kids started to think they were more superior to me, I had to put them in their place. That's what Leon had informed me to do. So I did it.

"Hey, Kaine, good fight," I said, extending a hand to the sandy haired teen lying on the floor. He stared up at me for a moment with his glossy hazel eyes, but soon subsided into an embarrassed grin. "I'll get you next time," he vowed. I pulled him to his feet, rolling my eyes. As if...

'Axel!' Demyx mouthed, waving enthusiastically from the opposite end of the room. The doors behind him swung closed with a metallic bang, and everyone in the class before me turned to look at the new addition.

"Everyone!" I said, loudly and clearly, my voice echoing causing everyone to snap their attention back to me. "Split into pairs, and practise the exercises I showed you this morning." There was a shuffling as people separated into pairs, and I greeted Demyx as he bounded towards me. I was surprised I didn't receive a tackle...

"Hi Ax!" He beamed brightly. I stared at him, my eyes cold. "No nicknames," I said in a monotone, turning and walking to a vacant mat.

"Oh, don't be mean!" Demyx whined, scuttling after me, "I brought you coffee!" When I looked up at him from my spot on the mat, he was smiling widely, a hand extended with a steaming cup of coffee. I sighed, taking it from him. It was good to see that Demyx hadn't bought one for himself. Demyx was hyperactive now; him and coffee were a bad mix... I rubbed at my temple with my free hand.

"Well, actually, I didn't just come to bring you coffee," he murmured, plopping gracefully onto the mat beside me. I twisted to stare at him, and he shrugged.

"Tonight we're having a movie marathon. Riku's cooking. It's compulsory," he said, glancing at my cup almost longingly. I sighed. We'd had a movie marathon only once before tonight, but only Demyx, Zexion and I had attended. Obviously, 'compulsory' meant that everyone else would come as well. It wasn't like the room we gathered in was small anyway. Leon and Cloud were loaded, and their house was massive. I still got lost in that place...

I sighed. "Fine, I'll go." I didn't particularly want to. What with Demyx and Zexion and all their closeness. It made me think of Roxas, and the thought that we hadn't progressed that far yet, that I hadn't had the gall to tell him straight out how I felt, was frustrating and embarrassing. And, almost everyone in the damn house knew about how I felt anyway. Why couldn't someone else just tell him?

I received a rush of adrenaline, which sparked from my frustration, so when Demyx asked if he could have my coffee (which I'd had none of anyway) I virtually threw it at him and stormed off towards the class. Demyx's shriek was fairly audible as the hot liquid fell in his lap, and even though a part of me felt slightly guilty, the frustration still overwhelmed it. The staring eyes of the kids in the class weren't helping the matter.

"What're you looking at?" I barked, "Get on with exercising!" Okay, so I was a bit cruel, but did I care at the moment? That would be... no. I stiffened when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and spun around slowly.

"I didn't just come to invite you to the movie night," Demyx said evenly, considering the burning sensation I was feeling from his eyes. Or maybe it was just the caffine kicking in... "I'm here to take over for the afternoon. Cloud wants you back at the house." My shoulders slumped, and I sighed heavily. Why the hell would Cloud want me? I was a better teacher than Leon. I didn't actually try to assassinate my students... I held back a short laugh, and sighed again instead.

"Fine." I rubbed at my temples again with my hands, closing my eyes to block everything from my view. When I opened them, Demyx was heading towards the front of the class.

"I'll see you tonight," I called, heading towards a nearby bench. It supported my duffel bag, which held a clean shirt and Reno's ring. I pulled off my shirt, shivering slightly as the cool air hit my bare torso, and rummaged through my bag to retrieve my prized possession.

Dragging my bag with me, and the necklace safely around my neck, I was in the process of pulling on my clean shirt, when I caught some of the younger students staring at me. They were all females. Yeah, they didn't hold much interest for me, but their swooning made me laugh, so I shot them a cheeky grin before I exited the large room, hearing the soft sounds of their giggles as I did so.

"Ah, Axel."

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, almost dropping everything I was holding. Cloud was leaning against the same, dark car that brought me home from hospital a week ago. He beckoned for me to get in, and when we were both securely seated, he started the engine with a purr, and we set off. Really, I would've preferred to walk home; it was only fifteen minutes, but if the older blonde insisted on something, you couldn't really defy him.

"What's with the lift?" I asked curiously, relaxing to the hum of music. I saw Cloud glance at me, and the look in his eye made me feel suddenly uncomfortable. I fidgeted with the ring and chain around my neck as he spoke.

"You have feelings for my brother." It wasn't a question, but I responded outragously anyway. "No!" I gulped, and for the first time I saw him smirk. I crossed my arms and sunk in my chair. So, I was eighteen. There was nothing wrong with acting like I was five sometimes, no matter what people thought of me.

"If you don't, then nothing needs to be said." Shooting him a quizzical look, I knew I might regret this question, but I asked him anyway. "And if I do?" My voice was shaky and a little hoarse.

"If you do, don't leave him hanging. I know Roxas. He'll get bored if you don't take an interest." Was Cloud actually ENCOURAGING me to make a move on his younger brother? I was shocked. My interpretation of Cloud told me things about his personality, but that view never told me anything about encouragement. God, this would be embarrassing... I sat bolt upright in my seat.

"I have a proposition," I said, grinning evilly. Cloud stared at me expressionlessly, and I grinned. "If I make a move on your brother, like you want me to," I said, knowing that Cloud only wanted Roxas to be happy, "Then you have to do something with Leon."

Cloud's dumbfounded expression was priceless, and I suddenly burst out laughing. Never in my week of living with him had I seen his face so much as twitch. This moment was rare! I grinned hugely, and Cloud's voice came out in a monotone. "Get out."

"What?" I squeaked. Was he going to torture me? Hurt me? I shuddered, reaching for the car door. Cloud's eyes left mine, and taking the key out of the ignition, he exited the car also. "I... will do it." My ears began to ring in triumph. This was a sweet deal; I decided the embarrassment was worth it.

"Cool," I smiled, swinging my duffel bag over my shoulder and heading for the house. When we reached the front door and Cloud unlocked it, we were about to go our separate ways, when he stopped me.

"But Axel, if you hurt my brother, I will happily beat you to death." As I watched Cloud walk away and eventually disappear behind a door, I wondered. Was he serious, or not? From his voice and his expression, I couldn't determine if he was telling me the truth. I shuddered, hoping it was a lie, and proceeding up to one of the many bathrooms. Before the deal could take place, I definitely needed a shower.

**(A/N: I was going to stop here, but decided it would be too short, so I just kept going. ;D)**

_**Later that same night~**_

"Will you beat those eggs?" Riku asked impatiently. I snorted at him and took hold of a beater. So cooking wasn't one of my strong points, but Riku insisted I help him anyway. He said it would help me learn, but I chalked it up to personal torture.

"Can't you get someone else to help you?" I complained, shaking some egg of my fingers. I looked up at the silverette to see him wipe something out of his eye impatiently, and I grinned guiltily.

"Oops," I said, ceasing the shaking of my hand and wiping my fingers on a cloth instead. Along with the inhabitants of Cloud and Leon's huge house, Riku and Sora were also invited to the movie night, and since it was Friday, and they had nothing on, they'd decided to join us all. Altogether, if everybody came, there would be Cloud, Leon, Roxas, Demyx, Zexion, Sora, Riku, Andromeda, Ink, Hope, Tifa and myself.

And Riku had insisted on doing all the cooking. Not that it was a huge three course meal for each individual, it was just muffins, cakes and junk food, but ever since the injections, Riku had seemed to take more pride in his cooking, claiming he wanted to be a chef. At present, he was making a good wage at a nearby restraunt working as a waiter.

"Hope, could you help me with this!?" Riku cried impatiently. The raven haired girl grinned mischeviously as she passed me, muttered something along the lines of 'he's got his period,' and took over my role of egg beating. For a moment I considered what she said; Riku had been stressed lately, but he'd just started cooking for twelve people, so maybe that was the cause. I winked at Hope before I left the kitchen, intending to find the movie room.

Over this past week, Hope and I had become good friends (much to the disgust of a jealous Ink) and we barely fought with each other anymore. **Origionally**, we couldn't stop fighting, but that was partly due to her trying to kill me and Roxas, and everyone else I'd formed a close bond with.

Now though, I understood that she'd had virtually no control over what she'd been doing, because her counter personality had taken her over. She said she didn't remember much of what had happened, but sometime's I'd seen her staring off to space with a pained look in her green-blue eyes. My anger towards her had seemed to simmer away when I'd seen her like that, and I'd realised she'd had problems too.

She'd been able to console in me, and looking back, I knew that was a good thing for her. Tifa was awesome, but she could only go so far. Hope needed a friend, so I'd been there. Ink was there for Hope too, but he was more timid in his approach, and it was obvious he had a crush on the small girl. Andromeda didn't seem to mind their close bond, and when he caught them talking or hugging, he wouldn't interrupt.

Pushing open a door, I thought I'd be stepping into the movie room, but what I was staring at was instead a large bathroom. "Uh," I said awkwardly to no one, spinning around and shutting the door. Damn house... so big... getting me constantly lost...

"If you want the movie room, it's down that way to your left." I jumped at Andromeda's sudden presence, and nodded, frowning. "Thanks," I muttered, roaming off in the direction he'd pointed me in.

The blonde, apart from Cloud and Leon, was the only one who properly knew his way around the huge house without getting lost in it. He ought to, though, because he was the house cleaner. Not having a proper education, as his parents didn't properly support him, Andromeda didn't have a very good chance at a job, so Cloud had offered him one here. He was entitled entry to every room, but he had to leave the house spotless.

I had to admit, it was a tough job cleaning the whole house, which was basically a mansion, but apparently he received great pay for his labour. "Axel!" My head snapped up to meet Sora's eyes, and he waved enthusiastically. I almost said 'Hi Demyx,' but I restrained myself.

"Hey guys," I grinned. Noticing Roxas, my heart pounded loudly, and I was relieved when Zexion provided a distraction. "Will everyone be here soon?"

I nodded. "A couple of minutes. I accidentally splashed Riku's eye with some egg, but he'll live," I said, dumping myself on a couch. My eyes scanned the huge room, and along with comfortable looking chairs and couches, there was a huge television and a bookshelf of DVDs stacked against one wall.

"Do you want to pick out some movies?" It was Ink's voice that spoke, and since he hardly ever talked to anyone but Hope, it was a surprise to hear him speak; most of the people in the room actually jumped slightly in shock.

"Yeah sure," I answered easily, jumping to my feet to inspect the many movies. Following my leadership, everyone joined in on the rummaging through the DVDs, and we'd eventually picked out several interesting ones. Since the street had been my home for several years, I'd never really snagged the chance to watch many movies, but I liked the idea of horror, or maybe gore...

Everyone else seemed to agree with my choice, and by the time Riku had come up carrying the food (Hope helped him), we'd all devoured it and were sitting comfortably on the many items of furniture. Andromeda and Tifa were the only one's who weren't sitting on a couch or chair, for they decided the bean bags would be more interesting.

"You ready?" I asked, receiving many 'yeps.' I stood up from my seat next to Roxas, and headed over towards the light switch. Just before I flicked off the lights, Cloud shot me a meaningful look, and I grinned, noticing he was sitting next to a certain brunette.

When I'd plunged everyone into blackness, either Cloud or Leon started the first DVD, and I settled down to enjoy it next to Roxas. As soon as the opening ads flashed onto the screen, I heard Roxas whisper something.

"What's with you and Cloud?" At his question, my heart pounded, but I grinned mysteriously. "Don't worry about it," I said, focusing on the movie. The title had finally come up (28 Days Later) and the movie had begun, and I noticed Roxas was clinging to his couch cushion.

Momentarily, I wondered if Hope would be able to tolerate this movie, after all, she was only fourteen, but I managed to spy her silhouette in the light from the screen, and she was safely in Ink's arms. She'd be fine, I decided, sitting back to enjoy watching zombies eating people.

It was probably about half way into the movie when I noticed that most of the people in the room weren't actually watching the movie, and I sighed. Couples... I spotted Cloud and Leon, and they too were distracted from the movie. I grinned. Cloud had come through on his end of the deal. My heart pounded furociously as I pondered what my end of the deal required.

I felt my face heat up as a certain blonde shuffled closer to me. He was clasping at the couch cushion still, and I noticed the tightness of his jaw; he was clenching his teeth too. "Axel," he ground out, and I felt a jolt of electricity shoot up my arm as his hand squeezed my own. It wasn't a pleasant squeeze, it was a help-me-I'm-scared-to-the-point-of-crapping-my-pants squeeze.

"What's up?" I whispered back.

"I hate horror. And gore. I need a distraction. Talk to me or something," he said awkwardly. I could see now that he was rigid, unmoving. Why hadn't he informed everyone that he didn't like horror or gore? I sighed.

"What do you want me to talk about?" I asked, desperately trying to think of something.

"I don't know!" He whispered impatiently, "Just anything you can think of to distract me!" By now, I noted that he was taking short breaths, and his hold on my hand was making my fingers turn blue from lack of circulation. Suddenly, I froze, a lightbulb shining brightly in my brain.

"Roxas," I whispered intently, hoping my voice didn't sound too wobbly from nerves, "look at me." I felt him twitch, seeming confused for a moment, but he complied, turning to face me. Our eyes connected, and for a moment, I almost lost my nerve, but seeing the scared expression in his blue eyes surged me on.

Inclining my head, I captured his lips in a distracting kiss, and immediately I felt his suffocating hold on my hand recline, and instead his fingers began to massage my palm. I closed my eyes as I kissed him; as he kissed me. Our lips moving warmly in unison. Eventually, we both had to pull away for air, and he leaned against me, intwining his warm fingers with mine, sending a delightful tingling sensation up my arm.

We were both breathing heavily, and I couldn't stop a large smile from playing on my face. Roxas lifted his head from where it lay on my shoulder, and I felt his breath on my cheek. "Thanks for the distraction." I could practically hear the grin in his voice, and my cheek burned from where his lips brushed my skin.

"Your welcome..." I breathed, wanting to do it all over again, but not really daring to. Instead, I settled for Roxas massaging my palm, and I stared at the horror movie playing on the screen, but not really properly seeing it.

I couldn't get the burning feeling from my face to subside, but after a few moments of trying to make the feeling go away, I focused on the soothing feeling of Roxas massaging my palm, and shut my eyes. From death, disaster and chaos, my life has subsided to stable and fun. With that comforting thought in mind, I let Roxas cloud my thoughts and my eyes remained closed.

Everything seemed far away, and it was only myself, and the warm blonde snuggled into my side.

* * *

_A/N: Complete! Yay! XD I hope you enjoyed it, and whoo! AkuRoku-ness! lol :P_

_**A huge thank you goes out to all the people who have put this story as a fave, and who have reviewed. SHOUT OUTS! ^^**_

Aeronite17

Akikazemoon

Doom Night Mel

GloomyPearl

Denzak

Sheyann

Sayoko's-fire

XloneXwriter

_**And to those who reviewed~**_

**Ocearna** - Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it! Oh, and lol. Sorry for being mean. :P But it all ended well. ^^

**Courtii **- Oh my gosh, I can't thank you enough!! And you rock for getting Hope into the story. It certainly wouldn't be complete if you hadn't given me inspiration. Thank you!! ^^ Oh, and if you want a cookie, it's all yours. *gives Courtii cookie* Enjoy. XD lol.

**PyroTori **- ZOMG!! You are a legend. Your reviews make me laugh! And the addition of Andromeda was awesome! Thank you so so so much!! And because I gave Courtii a cookie, and you were the second person to review this story (I think...) then you should get something too. Here! *gives PyroTori pocky* Don't eat it all at once. LOL :P

**I-live-a-stolen-life **- Thank you for reviewing, my friend. ^^ I am so glad you are liking it!! xo

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_I love you all, thank you SO MUCH for making me a fave, or reviewing this story!! xoxoxo_


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